Kings Amongst Men
by keenbeanz
Summary: Tony can remember the day he found out Pepper was missing. He had marked it in his brain as the day he fucked up. And every day after that was just a testament to how stupid he actually was. SEQUEL to 'The Spoils of War' Possible Rape/non-con. AU. Frostiron
1. News

**Hey Guys this is a multi-chapter sequel to my other Story 'The Spoils of War', so it will have mentions of past Rape/non-con as well as possible future Rape/non-con. **

**You don't have to have read The spoils of war but it would be an idea to.**

**Anyway, I don't own any of these characters, enjoy and don't forget to review and tell me what you thought.**

Steve sat at his desk in the ruins of a small fishing town to the West after a run in with one of the Odinsons, and not just any of Odinson, but Thor.

God damn Thor Odinson, crowned prince of the golden city of Asgard, who while, not the best political leader out of the bunch, or so Steve had heard, but was like a god on the battle field. Steve begrudgingly felt jealous of the man, because while Steve was one of if not the best Midgard had to offer, Thor was the best Asgard had to offer and so far he was proving to be better than Steve.

Which technically mean that Asgard was better than Midgard?

Steve punches the hard wood desk in anger and glares down at the letter.

He knew that he could defeat Thor if he wasn't stressing out over his friend and brothers disappearance.

He re-reads the letters over and over again, frown lines forming thickly on his brow, he knows he shouldn't read them again because it makes him angry, frustrated and upset and it really feels like way too many emotions bottling up inside of him and the only way he can let them out is by punching something.

Why would he do this?

Why would he just leave in the middle of an invasion?

Why couldn't he have just asked for help?

Steve would have helped him fix the problem, so would have Bruce he is sure of it. He didn't need to go running of with Rhodey at the first chance he got.

Really Steve blames Rhodey, he should have told his friend to stop and that he should not go running off after Pepper. Stark was not fit for the outside world; he was too… scatter brained.

Sure he was a genius, smarter than his father and Steve would go as far as to say the smartest man in the kingdom, but for such a smart man he could be such an idiot.

Did he not know what the repercussions of what he had done would be?

Surely he should have.

But that is where Tony and Steve differed, Steve while admittedly not being of the same mental calibre as Tony he knew what would happen if he were to sleep with another man's wife even if he, himself wasn't married.

But Tony preferred things of the flesh and would have not thought twice about seducing the woman.

His fist crumbles along the parchment and he glares down at the writing, the messenger who sent them long gone with Steve's reply in his dirty hands.

He knew he was not the only one who wanted Pepper and Tony back, but Tony and Steve's parents Maria and Howard sending messages over and over again all with the same things on them and with each passing month they got more urgent and letters that were sent once every two days were being sent day after day with multiple messengers having to find them over and over again.

'Please Steve, find him. Find my son.'

Steve crumples the piece of paper up in his hands and growls.

Losing Tony was like losing a limb, you don't realise how important they are until they are gone and for the rest of your life you feel useless, helpless because you are missing something that just seems so important, something you had taken for granted.

Steve needs Tony back, he needs the younger man to come home so he can see his smile again and be reminded of the little bundle that Maria had shown him minutes after birthing him.

'Your baby brother.'

Sure they were not related by blood and Steve was an orphan boy Howard had plucked off the streets at a young age but Tony would always be his younger brother, would always be the little kid that decked him in the halls when the maids were near, the boy who had paid a prostitute to sleep with Steve, which he declined because it would be improper, the man who had stood tall listening to his father as he brandished all of Steve's accomplishments in his face only for Howard to later do the same to Steve about his only son when Tony's back was turned.

Steve wanted him back.

And he would do anything to get him back.

"Dammit Tony." Steve curses throwing a piece of parchment into the fire, there is a knock at the door at the exact same time and Steve turns and blushes, he doesn't like being caught in moments of anger by his men. A head pokes through the door with a blank and grimy face.

"Excuse me sir, we found James Rhodes." And Steve's heart flies for a moment; he swallows loudly and stutters for a moment.

"Bring him in then." Steve stands by his chair and watches the door open wider; Rhodey stands tall watching Steve carefully a question in his eyes, before shutting the door behind him.

"Where is Tony?" they both ask at the same time and almost immediately both hearts sink into a pool of freezing water and Steve has to sit down before his legs give out.

Rhodey is silent and looking at the ground, they both don't cry, but they know that even if they did the other wouldn't laugh at them. Because the pain is raw and cuts through them.

"Did you find Pepper?" Steve finally asks, but it's hollow, because if Pepper isn't here and Rhodey has no idea where Tony is, there is no chance that they had found Pepper.

It is silent for a moment and when Steve looks up Rhodey has his head in his hands and is shaking.

He takes a shaky breath and looks up at the man.

"No." he says finally and Steve almost feels bad for the man who has just lost his two best friends. But he can't find the power to, because if Rhodey had informed Steve of Tony's plan then there would only be one person missing and not two.

But Steve trusts Pepper out there on her own rather than Tony, she is more responsible and wouldn't have gotten into any trouble, he is sure of it.

Steve has had enough; his fist slams down onto the desk. Rhodey glares at him with venom.

"What and you think this is my entire fault?" he asks stepping closer, his leather vest moving up and down quickly as his breathing quickens.

"I think you could have told someone what Stark was planning." Steve says and Rhodey is suddenly with his fists on the desk his muscles flexing under his tunic as he stares Steve down.

"You of all people should know that once he has an idea in his head, he will do whatever it takes to carry through with it." And Steve is standing his hands clenched down on the table, afraid to lift them because if he does he will hit Rhodey, hit him so hard the man's great grandchildren will feel it.

"And you of all people," Steve growls their faces inches from each other "Should know how worried everyone was when he left."

"Boy's lets save the fighting for the field." A voice sounds from behind them.

Both men stand slowly their eyes never leaving each other's, until finally they are standing straight and Steve turns to look up at the door, the other man just looks down at the desk looking at the many letters Steve has been reading, laid out in no particular order and Rhodey knows who they are from.

"Barnes." Steve says gruffly before sitting back down on his seat.

"Captain." Bucky greets with a smirk and a flippant bow. "So," he claps his hands together and looks at each of the two men in the hopes that it would release some of the tension in the air. "What is happening in here gentlemen?"

"Let me guess," Rhodey turns around and frowns at the man slightly. "Siegfried called you for help, didn't he?" Bucky shares a smile at the man and clasps his shoulder. Rhodey has spent too much time around Stark.

"Naturally." He takes a seat on the spare seat and kicks his feet up onto the desk.

Steve doesn't yell at the man he simply grins and shakes his head.

"So, how did you and Stark separate?" he asks and Rhodey looks down at the man with a frown.

"I don't know," he says looking down at his hands and Steve wants to grab the man and shake some sense into him. "But I told him to stay in the walls away from the Asgardians, and I would be back for him when the path is clear, but when I came back he was gone. Not long after that the city fell and I had no choice, I figured he decided to come back."

"You should know not to assume anything about Stark." Steve mutters, he can't be angry at Rhodey he really can't it's not the first time Tony has done something like this, granted it was never during a time like this.

Rhodey nods his head and it settles in then.

It settles through the room like a weight has been added to each muscle in their bodies, and the world is quiet so quiet that Bucky thinks he could hear the wind from outside.

But he doesn't say anything he just sits there and tries to stop the tears.

Steve doesn't try and stop them, he can't find the energy to care and Rhodey, Rhodey is frozen to the spot his legs shaking so much that his sword slips down his hips slightly.

"I'm sorry." Bucky says softly, Steve doesn't care; he turns around and looks into the fire ignoring the world around him, ignoring the heavy thrumming in his chest.

Tony Stark is dead.

He doesn't want to believe it.

He tries to ignore the pain in his chest as he thinks it over, the stale taste on his tongue as he mouths the words.

"I will send a letter out to Howard and Maria Stark." Bucky says.

"No." Steve says and he tries to tell himself he says it because he knows Stark is still alive, but he knows that can't be true, Stark could never survive an invasion and their parents would never survive the news. "I will send one."

"Steve-" Bucky tries to object.

"Leave!" Steve orders both men.

He doesn't write the letter, he doesn't think he ever will.


	2. Pepper and the Priest

Tony can remember the day he found out Pepper was missing.

He had marked it in his brain as the day he fucked up. And every day after that was just a testament to how stupid he actually was.

He had thought he lost her and multiple times through his expedition he had been told to forget about her and assume the worst had happened but he didn't want to forget about her or stop looking for her, he had told half of his men to go home and leave, it had gotten to the point that whenever someone who wasn't Rhodey had said her name he would desert them and order them to turn back, refusing to pay them for their services.

That meant after a while it was just him, Rhodey and three other men who were too poor not to follow the master blacksmith.

So it felt strange seeing her again, her orange hair and pale blue eyes staring back at him while she got some water from the lake beside the campsite.

He smiled at her sadly and she smiled back, and while Tony never wanted to marry, marrying her had been one of the best decisions of his life. Well it wasn't really a decision, more like it was forced upon him like an unwanted sack of potatoes, except this sack of potatoes was wanted.

And why the hell was he talking about a sack of potatoes being like Pepper.

Sure it had been weird when his father had barged into his room telling him he was to marry his childhood friend and that he would not take 'no' for an answer.

And hey that was fine because Pepper is hot and beautiful and smart and able to keep up with him in a conversation. Something not many can do. Half the time he talks to Steve, the Captain walks away confused and upset because Tony had said something he didn't understand or took the wrong way, but not Pepper, no, she would come back with a quick retort to put him in his place.

He waves over at her slightly and she smiles back at him and waves.

He knows she should be pissed with him, he would be too.

But it's probably got something to do with the fact they are slaves working for the invading kingdoms prince, granted in very different ways but still there is that slight comparison.

He drops his hammer on the anvil and moves towards her, ignoring the sword that lay unfinished behind him, but she shoots him a look that screams at him to stop what he is doing and to continue with what he should be doing, which is completing the order of swords, shields, axes and breast plates as well as other pieces of armour.

Really back to his old days except for the fact he is working for the enemy and when he did try and create a literal chink in the armour the prince had noticed it straight away. That night not only was he forced to sleep outside in the rain like a dog, he was also not allowed to eat or drink anything for the next few days which resulted in him being weaker than usual forcing him to get behind in his work which then earned him a beating from one of the captains.

He stood still for a moment standing outside his small little shanty watching her in confusion, she did nothing but when he went to take another step forward she shot him the look again, this time with more fear.

Okay so this was weird.

He stood still for a moment and cocked his head watching her with a frown. Her eyes darted from him to one of the other tents that lay on the edge.

Tony recognised it as the priest's tent.

He looked at her confused again but she ignored him and instead went on continuing gathering the water. He took another step forward hoping she wouldn't notice, this time he was at least four steps away from his post and maybe ten steps away from Pepper.

She looked up at him again and almost scrambled away water sloshing out of the bucket as she rushed away.

Okay so he probably should have expected all that, he did cheat on her causing her to run away which then caused him to try and find her which ended up with both of them being captured and enslaved which was house or tent duties for Pepper and some rather unsavoury duties for Tony.

He cringes slightly and watches her walk off, no not walk because that would imply she wasn't panicking because clearly she was. He follows her with his eyes until finally they rest on a face that is watching him so intently that he starts to sweat in the cold and wet environment. Except it's not a face, instead it's a mask made of metal and he has never seen something so interesting or terrifying in his life.

"Boy!" a man calls, Tony spins around and comes face to face with Obadiah Stane, he had worked with his father before in the forges of Midgard when they were battling against the Kingdom of Jotenheim, when his father was a little younger and was an apprentice along with Stane and when the war was won, Stane had gone with the Asgardians, joining their settlement while his father had obviously stayed behind with the Midgardians.

"Sorry Stane." Tony mumbles to himself as he walks back to the man who is standing by his anvil, hammer mid strike.

"You know what will happen if you fall behind on the quota." He says with a smirk, and Tony can't help but smile back at the man. He feels like his only friend at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah I know." Tony mumbles, he picks up his hammer and begins to shape the sword again.

It is quiet amongst the two men for a moment, the only sound being that of laboured breathing and the cling of their hammers on metal as they create their weapons.

"Stane?" Tony finally asks because it has grown too quiet for him and when he is usually working in the forges he has Jarvis or sometimes Pepper keeping him company and this time she is not here and neither is Jarvis.

"Yes Tony?" Stane says with a breathy chuckle, there is the sound of steam coming off of the sword as Stane throws it into the pile of already made swords.

"Who is the priest?"

It's quiet except for Tony's hammer as he works the other side of the metal. He stops what he is doing for a moment and looks towards Obadiah who is staring at him intently.

"A man you should never cross. If I were you I'd watch your back."

"Why?" he asks, dipping the metal into the water watching the steam flow up into the air before setting his eyes back upon Stane who has returned to the new sword. He shrugs his massive shoulders and frowns.

"Because" he looks back up and rests his palms on either side of the sword with a frown. "He doesn't like Midgardians." He turns back to his hammer and repeats his earlier motions as if the conversation had never taken place.

Tony turns around and eyes the priests tent speculatively, it is large and a the same red that all the other tents are, but there is something dark about it and it gives Tony the shakes just looking at it, he is glad he doesn't have to attend any rituals in there.

Though Asgardian rituals are much different to Midgardian ones, well he assumes anyway from what he has been told and taught.

They tend to focus more on magic.

Tony scoffs loudly at the thought of magic, purely primitive in his opinion.

But he knows Loki does there are mornings where he is gone long before Tony wakes up and after Tony's own morning ritual he will come back to the forge and see the Prince walk out with a smile in his face and a strange glow about him.

Tony figured all of the Asgardians were just weird and freaky.

The priest especially.


	3. An Old Campfire Song

**Sorry about the late update guys, Uni has been a bitch. **

**Anyway thanks everyone for reading/commenting/ favouriting/following this story I really appreciate it and get ridiculously excited when I see someone has liked this.**

**Hope you all enjoy.**

When night falls and Tony leaves the Forge with Stane, after locking up their stock, they make their way towards the open fire where most of the soldiers are already drunk off their heads and singing so loudly and terribly that Tony cringes mentally and physically.

"They sound like shit." Tony complains to Stane who just chuckles and pats the younger man on the back before bringing him into a side hug.

"You should hear them after a battle." And Tony stiffens, but Stane continues on unaware of what just happened. Tony walks along but he doesn't feel right, like someone has kicked him in the kidneys and he will collapse at any moment, but Stanes arm around his shoulders keeping him upright.

And then he freezes.

But Stane hasn't noticed because he is sitting by the fire his knee up and his arm resting on it as he talks to someone, Tony has never met before, or maybe he has.

Maybe he fought against him in the battle?

Maybe he was one of the men that brought him here?

He feels a sudden hatred for the man who continues to talk about his home and his family and Tony wants to scream at him and tell him he doesn't deserve a home, or a family and that they are all monsters.

Monsters with no hearts.

But he keeps his mouth shut and when he relaxes long enough for his muscles to move he sits down next to Stane who acts as if nothing has happened trying not to embarrass the younger man, he has done that a lot for Tony.

He had sat down one day with him and talked to him, told him everything was okay and that he was sure Loki would lay off him for a while.

But he was wrong and the next few days when Tony could barely move, Obadiah would steal a pillow from one of the generals quarters and command that Tony does his job while sitting down on the pillows, granted they didn't really do much but whatever Tony was unable to do Obadiah would end up doing it for him so that he wouldn't endure any more beatings.

Slowly Tony looks up over the fire and he sees the Prince mid conversation with a man in a green robe with a hood, Tony recognises the cold feeling in his gut and he gets the feeling that it isn't because of Loki, rather the man sitting next to him.

The priest.

Tony grinds his teeth and forces his eyes shut holding back the sob that will escape him at any moment he can't be seen as weak here, he can't be seen as weak amongst the Asgardians. They will surely kill him if he does.

No matter what Loki says.

After a while he looks up again and joins Obadiah and his friend in their conversation, they welcome him willingly although the other man looks a little pained in talking to Tony.

And he can guess why.

Slaves walk around the campfire pouring drinks for the man who want more, the women don't say anything if one of them pinches there arse of says something lewd, and after a while there are some small shrieks as a few of the men take slaves away from the campfire.

He physically winces and tries to immerse himself into another conversation.

But he can't because the night become littered with the cries of women and on some rare occasions the sounds of men, and he can't help but hate what is happening to the land and its people.

He wants to blame the Asgardians for doing terrible things like this, but he knows that if Midgard had invaded Asgard and had taken slaves, especially slave girls, the very same thing would be happening.

And he would probably be joining in with those who rape and pillage the land and its people.

It continues like this for a long time until there are only a handful of slaves left, most if not all are men, but there is one slave girl.

She stands out amongst the rest and Tony watches her and she watches him.

No one touches her and he is so very thankful for that, she pours the drinks to the men who barely even look at her, as if looking at her will give them the temptation to take her away from the group.

She makes her rounds slowly until finally she is standing directly in front of Tony, who is awed by her, her beauty is the same as the day they first met, which was when they were like seven.

Yeah he has had a crush on her for a while.

She smiles down at him with worried eyes and gestures to the cup in his hand.

"Oh, ah yeah." He says and tries to act as relaxed as he can be when his wife is standing in front of him pouring him a drink, he lifts the drink towards her and she pours the liquid in with a smile.

"Thanks." He says and she is gone, not even casting him a glance and her rounds continue, he watches her of course, he is always watching her now, casting a worried glance in her direction whenever they are near each other.

And she is always on his mind.

He looks back at the fire for a moment as if trying to tell himself not to look at her, but his eyes refocus and she is there, she is exactly eleven steps away from him.

He wants to run over to her pick her up from behind until she lets out a high pitched squeal and laugh at his shenanigans.

But he can't.

And it's eating at him from the inside.

Then she is off around a tent but not before shooting him yet another sly look and he is up.

"Tony, where are you going?" Stane asks.

He doesn't even bother looking at the older man and instead keeps his eyes on where Pepper disappeared too.

"Going to take a leak." He says and he is off away from the warmth of the campfire and the wondering eyes of many and towards the cold air that seems to refract away from the campfire.

He shivers instantly and wishes he had taken one of the furs Loki had given him, but no he was stubborn and wasn't going to take anything that guy offered.

He follows what he thinks is the way Pepper went because there are a few torches that form what look like a footpath for the slaves to follow without getting too lost.

The path winds around various tents some of them Tony finds familiar and others not so, but he figures that if he saw them from the main paths he would know which tents they were exactly. He does know that the Asgardian's do not like their slaves on the same main paths that the freemen use, but Tony is allowed to use the path.

He hates it.

Treated like a freeman.

But he is not allowed to travel out and away from the site.

It's terrible.

It's frustrating.

Up ahead there are more lights that seem brighter than before so bright compared to the darkness that Tony shields his eyes for a moment allowing them to adjust.

"Tony." It is soft and calm and before he knows it he has been pulled away and is in between two tents in close proximity to Pepper and she smells terrible and there is mud and food on her apron but he doesn't care and when he reaches down to kiss her she follows through.

It's soft and tender and full of love.

So why does it feel wrong?

'Because you are a whore.'

He breaks the kiss off and instead cups his fingers around Peppers chin, she smiles carefully at him and she is too good for him, he is broken, breaking and she is full and fixed and shouldn't even be looking at Tony the way she is.

But she is with so much love and adoration that it hurts Tony, it really hurts him.

"I am so sorry." He says as their foreheads touch, he looks into her eyes and she looks back.

But suddenly she is leaning away from him her hands on his chest telling him not to move any closer, his heart breaks slightly and he looks down at those hands, they are small so small and her hands use to be soft. So soft he would tell her it's like holding a cloud. But they aren't anymore they are rough with callouses, her nails chipped and dirty.

They shouldn't look like this.

And he feels a strong hatred for Loki. He wants to kill the man destroy him for taking Pepper.

"I will kill him." He says softly and Pepper looks back up at him with a frown. Her hand finds his cheek and she brings his face closer to her until her lips are ghosting past his with a slow shake of her head.

"You shouldn't have come looking for me." Is all she says and they are kissing again hard, his tongue is in her mouth and she starts to moan her hands wrap tightly around his neck and he feels like he is choking but he doesn't do anything except for grab her thighs and wrap the around his waist until he is holding her up.

She sighs loudly and moans his name as he starts thrusting.

He moves then quickly, it is getting harder to hold her and all his blood is flowing downward. There is a tree not far from him and he peels his eyes away from her and spots the tree putting her back up against it, it's rough against her skin, but she doesn't say anything.

He is in control here.

He is the man.

"Tony." She sighs and her hands are on his shoulders, he doesn't know if she is pulling away or if she wants more.

But suddenly her skirts are hitched higher and her hands are on him tugging him and he moans out her name long and loud, he thinks he is whimpering from the attention but he doesn't know because it's Pepper and he loves her.

Then his pants are down his ankles and he is positioning himself, she looks at him softly with a fierce determination in her eyes and he reaches up to kiss her just as she thrusts down, and god has she always been this tight.

His lips are on her neck, biting and licking, on hand on her back the other on her bum massaging it through the fabric, and her moans are getting louder, almost too loud.

He reaches up to kiss her and she moans in his mouth, her breath tastes like peppermint and her tongue can't seem to get enough of his mouth.

Then again neither can his.

"Mine." He says with a final thrust and the walls around him quiver and she shakes. He makes it to her mouth just in time as she moans and screams. Their lips locked together so tightly not even air can get in or out.

And it proves too much for him, because he is coming along with her letting it all out inside of her. He bites her neck and licks over the mark claiming her as his.

She looks down at him with a dopey and wide smile, he can't stop himself from kissing her, she is his and he is hers, that all he cares about.

Loki can shove his dick up his own arse.

Tony doesn't notice the rustling in the bush behind him but Pepper does, of course she does. She hits him on the head a quick demand to be put down and he follows suit placing her down with a frown before he looks towards where she is pointing.

He is panicked, but then again he is sure Loki wouldn't care if his blacksmith and his servant girl were in the middle of an intimate moment.

"Go Tony." She orders without looking at him and when he turns around to argue, her finger is raised and Tony knows he won't be able to win the argument. "I will see you tomorrow morning by the armoury."

She goes to move and Tony doesn't argue and tell her he won't be able to or that if he is caught he will be beaten or forced to sleep outside again. Instead he spins her around and kisses her.

"I will see you there, then." He says before slowly and reluctantly releasing his hand from hers.

The walk back to the campfire is quicker than the walk away from the campfire, but Tony's legs still feel slightly like jelly from his release. He goes back to his normal spot and just before he sits down Obadiah grabs his arm and shoots him a look.

"Loki has gone back to the tent."

And Tony's blood runs cold, so cold because he knows that while he is allowed to feast with the men and not sit next to or near the Prince, when the man goes to his tent, Tony is meant to follow. He found that out the hard way on day one.

Tony doesn't really say anything simply nods his head in thanks and rushes towards where the tent is, he doesn't know how long ago Loki left and he really doesn't want to sleep outside tonight, he had heard a few people talk about a storm coming in and the night seemed way too cold for normal.

By the time he arrives at the tent the night seems colder and he shivers at the thought of sleeping outside he goes forward and hears the soft murmurs of talking. He hopes Loki has found someone else to sleep with tonight and the thought of that brings him so much joy that when he opens the flap to the tent to see what is inside he freezes, because this is so much worse.

Inside the tent sits Doom and Loki and they are both staring at him.


	4. Mine

**Thanks everyone for reading this and such, I would love to see some more comments but still thank you all I appreciate it.**

**Hope you all enjoy.**

The world around him has frozen, life is still and all he can do is stare back at the two men. He has a sneaking suspicion that they were talking about him, what is he talking about, suspicion, please these two dicks probably were talking about him.

Suddenly everything Obadiah has said to him about Doom floods his mind; he almost runs from the tent and just run, grab Pepper and just run away from this place without worrying over stupid things that are so massive that it is actually insane.

"Thank you Victor."

Loki breaks the silence his eyes still boring into Tony who begins to shift on his feet slightly.

The man stands up from his seat the chair, it grates against the carpets that lay on the mud and for some strange reason the sound of the wooden legs against the carpet send a shiver down his spine that Tony can only guess is because of The Priest.

He doesn't say anything as he stands to full height; he simply nods his head and turns back towards Tony and the exit.

He shivers again as he looks at the metal mask that covers the man's face, his hood high on head covering the rest of his face and hair, Tony briefly wonders if the man is bald because of some creepy ritual that all Asgardian Priests do.

The older man brushes past him and Tony jolts as a spark hits him, he can't see the priests face but he can tell the man is smiling.

Tony wants to hit the arsehole.

With a chair.

Made from metal.

With Spikes on it.

A lot of spikes.

There is the sound of a cup hitting the table and Tony hates to admit how he hears that sound a lot, what's even worse is what usually happens after that sound. His inside clench tightly and he forces himself to look at the floor, he will not look at that man.

"Sit down Anthony."

Tony doesn't move, instead he continues to stand his eyes forced shut as he tries to control his breathing all thoughts of his inevitable doom playing in his mind, no matter how much he tries to think about something else, like what makes a sword stronger and sharper, why Iron is better than Bronze in weapons and Pepper.

He can't forget Pepper.

"Sit. Down." Loki says again, but Tony still doesn't move because if he does move then he will break down and tears will appear and it will be horrible.

He does not want to cry in front of this giant douche.

There is that sound of wooden legs on carpet, Tony flinches slightly at the sound but still doesn't move, not even to look up at the no doubt approaching figure.

But he does move he moves as soon as he feels the punch to his cheek.

He hits the floor with a loud 'oomph' and a groan.

His cheek isn't bleeding but his mouth is and everything is aching in his mouth and on his face and just fuck it all to hell.

"When I tell you to sit, you will sit."

Tony looks up at the figure. His brown eyes glaring into green.

Loki stands above him with a sneer his hands clenched to his sides as he stands with his impossibly tall height over Tony who is still huddled on the ground with a hand covering the now purple skin.

"Sorry, Sir." Tony hisses and he can see it's the wrong thing to say when Loki's fist grows tighter and he lowers only slightly into a crouch, Tony tries to slither back slightly until Loki's foot catches on the fabric of his pants.

"Where were you?"

Okay and where did that come from?

"What?"

He lowers further until he is practically lying down on Tony, who does his best not to head butt the man, his head hurts enough as it is and he really doesn't want to make it hurt anymore.

"Where, were you?" He growls and Tony can smell mead and meat in his mouth.

"I was at the campfire." Tony replies in confusion, and apparently it was the wrong answer because Loki slams his fist on the floor beside Tony's shoulder and he flinches as the air whooshes past him.

"No, you disappeared." he says again in a low growl and he lowers himself further his eyes an inch from Tony's, it's very uncomfortable. "So I will ask you again, where were you?"

Tony pauses slightly and thinks of Pepper. He won't get her in trouble; he can't be a bigger arse then what he already has been to her.

"I went to finish off some of my work." Tony answers almost automatically. But he had paused and that pause could be lethal to him or Pepper.

Loki is up in an instant and he whips around towards his desk. Tony can tell that he is angry.

He isn't an idiot.

Tony gets up slowly trying to get use to the pain in his jaw; he has never been hit that hard in his life.

"You are lying." Loki says, Tony should relax a little at his tone of voice, but he can't because it is too calm, way too calm for normal.

Tony freezes slightly and looks towards the Prince with a frown.

"What do I have to gain by lying?"

Clearly it is the wrong thing to say because suddenly there is a chair being thrown and a loud shout and grunt, Tony is surprised that the guards haven't come running in to see what was happening but then again he gets the feeling that they must be used to this.

He quickly spins back around and stalks towards Tony with a snarl.

Tony tries to back up he really does, but he can't because Loki has grabbed him by his hair and is pulling his head right back, Tony winces at the feeling and for a moment he really does think that Loki will be ripping his head off his shoulders.

"What have you to gain? Is that what you want to know?" Loki's hand trails down Tony's neck his nails digging into his skin, the younger man winces at the feeling but, he keeps his eyes open, staring at Loki with a glare. "Who is she?"

Tony pauses his neck growls a cold tingly feeling and his head grows foggy.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Lies."

And Tony has been pushed back, his back hitting the pole in the centre, the same pole that he had been tied to when he first arrived. He winces at the feelings and memories associated with this object but Loki won't give him time to assimilate because he is once again hounded by the sound of his voice.

"Tell me who it was." He is calmer now.

But not as scary and creepy as it had been before, no, this time it is resigned and careful. Like he is talking to a wounded animal, just before you put it down.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Tony tries again but Loki has had enough he turns to fully face Tony, his eyes brighter than usual giving off an eerie green glow.

Tony takes a moment to stare at it because that is not normal, really not normal.

"I can smell it on you." He says and he is once again stalking forward. "I can smell sex on you." And he is standing in front of Tony who shrinks under the attention.

"Tell me, who was the woman?"

Tony doesn't answer he just looks to his left towards one of the tent walls, and if he looks closely enough at it he can see the moon in the night sky.

Then there is a pain in his stomach shooting out everywhere and Tony almost collapses to the ground, if Loki's shoulder would let him, but the older man holds him up and pulls his face towards his, until Tony is once again looking at those green eyes.

Except they are no longer glowing.

He is actually really quite thankful for that.

Then there is a hand in his pants, it cold and soft and Tony breathes out a sigh at the attention.

"I am the only one that can give you pleasure." He whispers into Tony's ear.

His hips shallowly thrust into the palm, his head hits the back of the pole with a thud and his eyes shut, because this feels so good.

Better than anything he has ever felt.

But it's not right.

He lifts his head and glares at Loki, whose pupils are now the size of his green irises and his breathing is shallow.

"Stop." Tony whimpers, but Loki, ignores him. Tony can't get enough energy to keep his head up, let alone push the man off him, even if he wants to.

And he really does want to.

Even if this feels good, that doesn't mean he wants it to happen.

But Loki won't stop his hand speeds up, the friction should burn and chafe his skin, but Loki's hands feel so smooth, soft and for some strange reason wet. Why he has no idea. But it feels strange and nice.

Loki rests his forehead on the pole beside, Tony's head, his breathing getting shallower and shallower as he breaths in Tony's ear, he shives at the sound and soon he finds his hips twitching and thrusting erratically and there is that familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach and he knows what is about to happen.

"This is your life," Loki breaths out as his own hips thrust towards Tony's leg; he lets out a groan into the younger man's ears. "You are mine and mine alone." He groans loud and long in Tony's ear as his manhood once again meets the friction of the younger male's leg, before lifting his head up and looking at the man in front of him.

Then before Tony can get and release Loki has let go and is staring at Tony with a deep frown that turns his blood to ice, well it would if he could open his eyes to actually look at the Prince.

"When I find out who it is" He whispers his head once again leaning on the pole his lips brushing against Tony's ears, he shudders at the feeling and lets out a pathetic whimper as he thrusts his hips forward trying to get some more friction to finish him off. "They will wish they had never been born."

And Tony stutters in his movements, his breathing stops and his eyes open, almost as if he has broken some kind of spell.

'Pepper.'


	5. I'm Sorry, Here's Some Bread

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Tony had woken up with a black eye and a dull pain all across his body, not that he was really expecting anything else. In a way he had it coming.

Well that was his logic anyway.

Sure he didn't have any clear orders per-say of not fucking or touching anyone in a loving or physical way but he did figure out that Loki was a possessive little git who got what he wanted when he wanted it so really it was common sense that should have stopped him from pursuing Pepper.

It didn't mean he didn't enjoy his time with the woman.

Because hell, he loved every moment he spent with Pepper and he still does.

Slowly he lifts himself out of the bed, quite pleased to find the bed empty and cold. From what he can tell Loki must have left earlier in the morning. It was strange because usually Tony was the first to wake, Loki would still be asleep when Obadiah would pick Tony up from the tent, because no one really trusted the young genius on his own, especially Loki.

So he rises from the bed and shives at the cool air peeling his night clothes off.

Loki had not touched him last night except for the odd cuddle during the night, but that didn't count because Tony had woken up in the middle of the night spooning the Prince multiple times, yeah he hated himself for even touching the man, even if it was a subconscious move, but he allotted that trait to him being a naturally touchy person when sleeping.

At least that is what Pepper would tell him.

He almost leaps off the bed with that thought because shit Pepper, Loki said he would hurt whoever he had slept with. And no he can't hurt Pepper like that again he won't he needs to tell her, to warn her.

Last night Loki had not given him a chance to run off and warn the slave girl because soon after their fight he was quite literally pulled into the bed and forced to play little spoon to the older man.

This had not been fun.

He slips off the rest of his clothing and quickly changes pulling on the thick pants and tunic, his gloves and apron left at the forge where the rest of his equipment lay. He pulls on his boots and almost runs outside, well until he remembers that they won't let him leave without either Loki or Obadiah escorting him, he growls subconsciously and kicks a chest a little too hard he growls again and grips his foot glaring daggers at the offending chest.

"Fuck you." He scolds going to kick it again with his other foot until he hears the sound of footsteps.

He looks up and glances out the tent, Obadiah stands by one of the guards a fresh loaf of bread in his hands as he talks to the other man, Tony has no idea what they are talking about and really he doesn't really care that they are in a conversation because he leaps out from the entrance to the tent and smiles at the older man.

His purple eye so swollen that it blocks half of his eyesight and let's not talk about the sting the cold air provides to his bruised face, he winces at the feeling.

"Here he is." Obadiah laughs looking at his face with a grimace, he is wise enough not to mention it to the guards, they all know what happens if someone questions the way a man handles his slaves. He clasps Tony on the shoulder and breaks of a bit of bread handing it to the hungry boy.

"Yeah, yeah let's go Obie." Tony replies shoving the piece of bread in his mouth as he begins his long trek to the makeshift forge.

Obadiah laughs again and follows the boy, jogging for a bit to catch up. He places a hand on his shoulder and looks around the camp before bending over slightly to talk to Tony.

"What did you do this time?" he asks a fake smile on his face as if to hide from anyone else the true nature of what he is saying.

Tony shrugs slightly before stealing another piece of bread. "Did something I wasn't supposed to." He shoves half of it into his mouth and pockets the rest for later.

"When do you ever do something you weren't supposed to?" Obie sighs and pats Tony's back softly, unfortunately for the younger male there are bruises covering his entire body and he can't stop the wince and groan that escape him.

Obie does nothing and Tony hopes it is because he didn't hear him because he doesn't want to be seen as weak in front of the man.

There walk is silent for a few moments until Tony looks to his side and spots a flurry of skirts and orange hair in the wind, he smirks to himself and pats Obie on the back before stealing some more of the bread.

"I gotta go Obie, see you in a bit." He quickly turns and almost races towards the tents where he last saw her.

"Tone, where are you going?" Obie shouts and he quickly turns to face the older man whilst walking backwards.

"Taking a leak, cover for me." He gives the man a thumbs up and turns back around racing away with half of Obie's bread in his hands.

"Kids these days." The man snorts and continues towards the forge with a soft smile.

The back of the tents aren't as glamorous as they seem with many people choosing there to empty their rubbish, chamber pots and to copulate with slave girls or prostitutes, because apparently the Asgardians only want the best for their soldiers and that includes the best pros from their home land.

Why that didn't suit Loki, the prince of dicks no one will ever know.

Maybe he had a thing for taking someone forcefully. There is a crack and crumble as Tony realises that he has been squishing the bread in his palm a little too tightly. He frowns and releases his firm grip with a sight before almost tripping over a peg.

"Stupid piece of crap." He mutters to the peg.

He should probably stop talking to inanimate objects, but then again why should he.

He continues walking and when he gets to the armoury, Pepper is standing there with a bunch or armour bundled in her soft hands, well once soft hands.

She looks up at him with a soft smile. Until she notices the bruises and the swollen black eye that is destroying half of his vision. Really it's a bitch.

"Oh my god Tony-"

"Pep, you gotta get out of here."

"What?" she asks and he can see that she is genuinely confused by all this and really she should be because hey genius you haven't explained any of this to her.

He would hit himself over the head if it wouldn't cause too much attention.

"Just trust me." He replies taking the stuff out of her hands, she raises a confused eyebrow at him and shakes her head.

"I swore to myself that one day I would understand you."

"But you have always trusted me right?" he asks and she frowns at him.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't know just promise me you will stay away from Loki." He hushes at her looking over his shoulder as if to make sure said person wasn't behind him.

"Tony, what is going on?" She asks unloading the last of the armour into his arms, he takes it still holding the piece of bread in his palm.

"Just promise me Pep."

She frowns now folding her now free arms, while Tony dumps half of the stuff onto a spare worktop with a scowl, since when did Pepper carry around armour, especially such ritzy armour like this.

"A little hard to promise that, considering I am his slave."

Okay and really Tony you should have known that.

He winces slightly and rubs the back of his head. "Okay new tactic, how about you stay as far away from Loki, whenever you can?"

Yeah it's pathetic and he can tell from the way Pepper's eyebrow raises slightly that it is worse than he thought.

"What is this about?"

"Whose armour is this?"

"Tony."

"Pepper."

"Anthony."

"Virginia."

Pepper scowls deeply at him and he smiles back at her with his infamous shit eating grin.

"It's Loki's."

"What?"

"Really Tony, whose armour did you think it was?"

Okay so he is really bad at this. Then her hand is up on his face and she is frowning, he winces as soon as her delicate fingers reach the bruised skin on his cheek, it is safe to say this is the worst bruising he has had since being here.

"What happened?"

"When does Loki want the armour back?" He knows he should tell her and end it and that was his main goal since waking up, to end it for Pepper's sake, but he is selfish and he can't find the power to actually end this. He needs her more than anything else, more than air.

He really needs Pepper here with him.

But it could cost him their lives or even worse just hers.

Her hand retracts almost immediately, he is in one of those moods where nothing can get through to him, not even her banter and she gives up with a frown.

"By tonight." She crosses her arms around her stomach and looks down at the floor with a frown; she isn't stupid she knows what happens at night in the Royal Tent. She doesn't know what to feel about it but because it isn't Tony's fault with what is happening but she can't help but feel jealous and angry at both Stark and the Prince.

He nods his head slowly inspecting the armour, he can already see what is wrong with it, there are large dents in the side and it really needs a good polish, Tony's armour back home is in a better condition.

"I think I can do that."

Pepper looks up at him then and he is smiling at her with a sad smile, she doesn't think when her fingers reach up towards his face, she cups his chin with a smile, he smiles back almost genuinely now, but there is something there.

"Talk to me. Tell me what is wrong." His hand grips hers then and he frowns deeply.

"I can't do this." He mutters to her, pulling the hand off his cheek and bringing it to his lips with a soft face. "I can't let them hurt you."

She steps back then almost in shock. Of course, how else could he have gotten those bruises? Last night, the man in the bushes, the bruises. It all makes sense to her now, hitting her like a tone of mud bricks. Her neck grows colder and her hand starts to tremble as she slowly falls to the ground in a head spin.

Her knees hit the dirt as she stares at nothing and there is a hand holding her up, shaking her shoulders trying to keep her up but she is slipping.

"Pep. Pep, look at me." And there is the owner of the hands his face swimming into view and she relaxes a little under those brown eyes that watch her with such concern.

It's funny, he is raped and beaten every night and he is concerned over her wellbeing. She laughs hysterically for a moment.

"Pep, knock it out its creepy." There is water coming out of his eyes and she laughs again. Why is he crying? Why is he crying over her?

Then everything swims back into view with a rush and she has to close her eyes to stop the vertigo from completely overwhelming her.

"We have to stop this." She mutters and he won't say anything to her but she can see it in his eyes the way his face falls and understanding replaces that look. "I won't let them hurt you anymore."

This is why Pepper is nobler than him.

Because he can't leave her, he won't leave her. He needs her and she is leaving him because she is afraid of him being hurt.

'You are a selfish, prick who doesn't deserve anyone. You and Loki deserve each other.'

"Don't worry about me." He says finally looking into her eyes, but they are resolute and he can't win.

Her hand traces down his face with a sad smile and tears and oh god Pep, not the tears.

"Someone has too." She says and yep Tony really does feel like shit right now.

It is quiet and he looks down at the ground inside the armoury, he is glad no one is here. They would not be able to explain what they are doing otherwise.

"I-I got you some bread." He mutters pulling down the bread he had stolen from Stane a few moments earlier. She takes some carefully and looks at him again with a frown. "I figured they wouldn't feed you much."

'I love you.'

"Thanks." She says softly and she smiles at him, she smiles that same sad smile that always accompanies her and he feels like a bag of dicks.

They sit there is silence eating their bread, no one says anything because no one needs to the silence says so much already.


	6. Personal Guard

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"Tony," Stane whispers to him as the two work over a particularly difficult shield that has almost been split in two. "Why do you have your own personal guard?"

The younger man looks up towards his work colleague and frowns slightly before looking at his mentioned personal guard. The guy stands at least a full three heads taller than Tony and has the bicep the size of Tony's thigh. All in all the guy is extremely intimidating.

"No idea, he just started following me like a lost puppy." The man stands just outside the opening to the forge a spear and shield in his meaty grasp as he stands to full attention his eyes ghosting over every face that walks past him, Tony swore he saw a man look at the guy and turn the other way.

"Do you think if I gave him a bone he would go away?" Stark suggests turning back to his work.

"I don't think he would leave even if you gave him a herd of cattle." Stane mutters before pushing the two sides together.

Really Tony reckons the General should just get a new goddamn shield instead of worrying of this piece of crap because even if they do fix it, which they will Tony has it all planned out as to how they will get it fixed and he swears it will be done otherwise he isn't Anthony Stark, it will look like crap and Tony doesn't want it to look like crap, even if he is fixing the shield for the enemy. He takes pride in his work.

However the two can't seem to get the two sides to move close enough for them to fix the metal. They both release the sides with a loud grunt and sigh.

"Stupid shield." Stane mutters throwing his gloves off his hands; Tony has never seen him so annoyed before in his life. "There is no way to fix this." He plops down a stool and runs a hand over his bald head in frustration. "I will have to tell him it can't be done."

Tony frowns and runs his now gloved free hand through his hair in thought.

"Hey gigantor." He calls, Stane looks up at him in confusion but Tony ignore him, and the guard turns around and raises a brow in confusion. "Yeah you muscles, come here for a sec."

The man slowly rolls away from his post his shield and spear still in his grasp.

"Just put those there for a sec- yeah right there by that guy, don't worry he will look after them." The guard leans his equipment up against the wall and Stane watches over him in observation and confusion, yeah Tony has no idea what he is doing, but its working so far. He throws a pair of gloves and the giant man catches them before looking at the younger man in confusion. "Put them on, cos this shit is about to get hot." The man listens and puts the gloves on with a frown.

"Okay now hold these two for a second." He points towards the shield sides with his hands and the brute listens. "But not too hard, we don't want it broken too much." He slaps the man on the arms softly and moves to get his equipment.

"Okay ready?" he doesn't move to pour the hot metal onto the shield until the guard nods. "Brilliant." The metal pours onto the shield and almost immediately the air cools the metal.

"Keep it pushed together as much as you can." Tony instructs before pouring some more, straight from the furnace. "That way there is only a line- yeah like that."

It isn't long until the metal seems cool enough and instead of dipping the shield into the water he pours the water over the top shielding his eyes from the steam, the behemoth guard des the same.

"Sweet, thanks gigantor."

"You already used that one." The man says in a thick accent, and Tony freezes for a moment before looking up at the man and smiling.

"I did, didn't I?" The guard laughs loudly and Tony can't help but laugh along. "Okay back to your post."

The man smirks and pulls off his gloves, Tony can see the massive burns along his hands, but before he can say anything the man has picked up his equipment and has moved back to his post.

"Jeeze, they breed them tougher in Asgard, don't they?" Tony turns back to Stane who has risen.

He picks up the shield in amazement and frowns at the shield, Tony would think the man to be jealous. "They sure do." He says off handily.

Tony moves to stand next to the man inspecting his work. The gaping hole is now nothing but a small hairline that goes from the top to the bottom of the shield, Tony smiles at the work, knowing that while the gaping hole is barely there, the shield in now slightly heavier, maybe nothing to someone young like Tony or strong like his guard but to the older General, the shield will be a ticking time bomb, he will be using all his energy to constantly hold the shield rather than using his energy to cut through his enemies.

Tony mentally high fives himself.

"You did good, Tones." Obadiah says finally acknowledging the younger man with a clap on the back.

"I always, 'do good'." Tony says before turning around and moving towards the rest of his work, which isn't much because for some reason his quota for the day is remarkably smaller compare to Obadiah's and his usual routine, it is at least three times smaller.

"Just like your old man." And suddenly, Tony feels like a child again and the thoughts of his family just keep running through his mind, he wants to forget them he really does because then all this would be so much easier. But he can't forget them because with every reflection he can see his father and every night before he goes to bed his mind fleets towards his mother and it is completely unintentional, he doesn't want to think about them because then when he wakes up and things go back to normal, he realises that he is living in a nightmare.

"Stark." A gruff voice calls and it takes a moment for Tony to register that it belongs to the guard, before he can turn though he sees Obadiah stiffen slightly before slinking to his knees.

His blood runs cold then and he turns, so slowly that his blood seems to slow with him, but he knows that can't happen, well he believes it anyway, and there next to his giant helping hand is Loki, who smiles at Tony as if this should be some kind of welcome surprise, but it is anything but.

Yeah okay so he is living a nightmare.

"Hello Stark." Loki greets as if this is a normal day in Tony's life.

"H-hello." Tony says, because really what else can he say, this is one of the most unexpected things that has ever happened. Well not the strangest thing in his life, but this is pretty close.

Loki frowns slightly and Tony freezes before slowly lowering his head into a slight bow, he is still bruised from the other night and does not want any more bruising or beatings to occur.

"Rise." They both rise slowly and look back at the Prince who has taken it upon himself to look around the forge with a soft smile.

"You do your new country proud, blacksmiths."

New country.

New fucking country.

As if Tony is just going to move with them back to fucking Asgard when this is all done, no fucking way.

But before Tony can open his mouth Obadiah has stepped forward and has placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, perhaps he noticed the way Tony reacted, or he knew that the next few words out of Tony's mouth would be vulgar and cruel and would end up with him being tied to a post in a pen for a few days.

It has happened before; Tony had seen Loki do it to one of his own guards for falling asleep at his post.

Admittedly Tony can see the reasoning behind it, 'falling asleep at his post', and then being 'Tied to a post.' He briefly wondered if Loki had done it on purpose, he probably had. He has a feeling the guy is a sucker for puns.

"Thank you my lord." He says with a gentle bow.

Tony doesn't bow, Loki doesn't expect him too.

The prince moves through the tent and Tony gets the feeling that if it weren't for the giant goon, Loki hired that there would be a giant crowd gathering around to watch the Prince.

His hands lightly touch the weapons and armour and Tony suddenly feel protective of his creations.

"So this is the life of a blacksmith." He mutters lifting the shield that Tony had recently fixed and the way Loki looks at it makes him panic slightly and he doesn't know why.

"Is this not Frederick's shield?" Loki asks looking up from the thing and towards the two who are watching with rapt attention as Loki looks at everything.

And Tony shrugs because he has only ever known the guy as the general, because if he learns their names he becomes attached and he would rather not get attached for obvious reasons.

"Yes. He left it here for us to fix, after his last raid in the merchant town." Obadiah explains.

"Yes I remember it had a large hole in it." His fingers skim over the metal as if the hole is still there just hidden from view. "How did you manage to fix it?" he asks Stane and Tony wants to scoff because please as if Stane could fix it.

"I didn't." Stane says and his hand clasps Tony on the shoulder again squeezing and pulling the man. "Stark, did it. Quite the master if you ask me." He laughs at that and Tony can tell it is forced.

Then suddenly Loki's eyes are on him, those same poisonous green eyes boring into his soul, he represses the urge to shiver.

"How did you do it, child." Loki asks and Tony is really sick of him calling him a 'child.' He is an adult.

Tony bites his tongue and shrugs before pointing to the guard. "Got some help from your lackey."

Loki smiles at him and lifts it placing it on his arm. "It seems heavier; perhaps you should try and make it a little lighter." Loki says as if knowing what Tony's plan was all along and okay what is he saying; he probably did know.

"I can work on that now." Tony says between gritted teeth, Loki raises a brow before placing the shield down on the table top.

"No." He points to Obadiah who looks up with a curious expression. "Stane will do it." He turns slowly then and faces Tony with a smile, that could be registered as innocent but Tony doesn't buy it. "You will accompany me."

Okay and where did this come from?

Before Tony can say anything else Obadiah has taken the shield off the prince and Tony has been ushered out of the Forge.

There is a reason that Tony all of a sudden has a guard and that suddenly his work load has shrunk and that Loki is actually picking him up and escorting him from work, and he can't help but smile as it all clicks together in his brain.

"This is because you think I slept with someone isn't it?" Tony asks without even looking up at Loki. He can tell the guard is walking behind him because of the heavy footsteps.

"Think, implies that you didn't." Loki answers and Tony can tell the man is smiling, because it seems like something the creepy prince would do. "Whereas I know you did."

Tony snorts loudly. "Oh yeah and how do you know that, Your Majesty?"

And suddenly there is no ground under Tony's feet and his feet are dangling in mid-air and there are hands bunched under his collar. Loki growls at him like a dog.

"Do not think you can lie to me Stark. Do not think that for one second you can hide anything from me." And Tony genuinely smiles and laughs at the man.

"I think I can."

And there is a look that Loki gives him, that makes Tony feel sick. Because it's a challenge and damn well Tony and Loki have both signed onto the challenge with a simple look.


	7. Who Are You?

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Mornings are usually Tony's favourite time, mostly because Loki isn't awake yet and won't wake up for a while, but also because in reality it is the only time he can see Pepper now.

Loki's metaphoric leash on Tony has grown shorter since the challenge only a few days ago and where Tony was once able to roam the campsite almost alone he was now unable to do so without Loki's presence.

So essentially he was more of the man's pet than anything else. Which for a man with a free spirit like Tony was annoyingly frustrating and he let the other man know that whenever he could.

He climbs out of the bed softly removing Loki's arms from his waist in the process with a shiver before moving in search of some food, he was hungry and thirsty and he had the overwhelming sting in his bladder that meant he needed to pee.

He pokes his head out of the tent ad motions to one of the guards who looks at him like a goldfish.

"Seriously man, I need to pee." He calls, but the man just continues to stare.

Fine, since the guard won't accompany him to take a leak he will go by himself and get both he and the guard in trouble, which is perfectly fine with him because he wants to get this arsehole in trouble.

But as soon as his leg has left the warmth of the royal tent the guards spears lower so that he is unable to get past.

"You're kidding me right?" he says with a raised brow as he stares at one of the guards who remains impassive.

The man opposite him speaks first in a loud commanding voice.

"Lord Loki has forbidden you to leave the tent without his say."

"I think 'Lord Loki' would rather you let me out to pee rather than pee on his expensive carpets like some sort of stray."

One of the guards scoffs but is quickly silenced by the other one who glares at the man before turning his attention back to the younger male.

Tony groans and rolls his eyes because he knows what is going to happen and he where he will end up and that is back in the tent with the overwhelming urge to pee. He turns around and faces the overly furnished tent and frowns, Loki continues to lie on the bed his body now spread completely out obviously loving all the spare room on the bed.

He contemplates going over and waking the Prince up, but he knows that the Prince is not a morning person and that it will end up terribly for him if he were to wake the other man up.

So instead he moves over to one of the seats, it is soft and comfortable, really Tony only knows one good use for them and Pepper isn't here to reminisce too much on that topic, so he throws himself down and crosses his legs to the best of his ability. He begins to dance around in his seat as the overwhelming need to pee is overtaking all of his hunger and thirst.

He puffs his cheeks in annoyance as he holds it in and it is actually quite painful.

There is the opening of the tent and Tony spins around in excitement expecting to see Pepper, to see the girl that makes his palms sweaty and his brain become a jumble of words and phrases that make no sense and make him sound like a town drunk, even though he has been the town drunk on many occasions.

But when he looks for orange hair all he sees is white hair and an ugly crooked nose and he frowns at the newcomer.

His need to go to the toilet diminishes.

"Who are you?"

The woman jumps slightly, well he thinks it is a woman, he isn't really sure but the word bear comes to mind when he sees her, before shoving a glare at the young man.

"The new maid."

Tony freezes and he turns to a thoughtful glare as he tries to piece everything together.

"What happened to the old one?" he asks softly aware that Loki could wake up at any moment but he needs to know, he really needs to know what happened to Pepper, to see if she is okay to know that no one has harmed her.

The old woman shrugs her shoulders and glares at the man again, a pale of water in her hand.

"How am I meant to know." Is all she says and it takes all Tony's effort not to run up to her and grip her by her apron and demand where Pepper is, well that and the fact he can hear the rustling of bed sheets and linen behind him.

He doesn't turn around; instead he simply watches the space where the old woman once stood.

She said she was a maid and not a slave, that hits Tony hard and judging from her accent she is also from Asgard, she was probably his nurse maid when he was a child, judging from her familiarity with the tent and at how comfortable she is.

"Get up Child."

Tony spins around in his chair to find Loki face down the blankets completely ripped off his body and a loud snarling groan, that Tony has never heard before in his life. The old Lady stands above the sleeping figure, the blankets held in her pudgy hands.

Tony watches the scene in rapt amusement until the old lady calls Tony forward.

"You there," Tony looks up at her with an innocent smile. "Gather the pail and bring it here."

Honestly Tony doesn't know if he should listen to the woman or not, but either way he goes to move to get the pail.

"If you get that pail, so help me Stark."

Tony spins on his heel and faces the bed, where Loki now sits upright, his hair all over his face as he scowls at the woman in front of him.

"When I sent for a new maid, I had not thought they would send you." Loki growls, getting out of the bed with a slow turn.

The old woman laughs and moves around the bed picking up a few items of clothing that have been lying around.

"Who else would they send to keep you in order." She continues to pick up the clothing and other items before dumping them in a small pile in the corner of the room.

Tony sits back down slowly, he has no idea what is happening, but he thinks there is going to be a power shift. Suddenly there is a hand lifting his arms up in the air and the little old woman is taking his tunic off in a hurry.

"And when have you ordered your slave's cloths to be cleaned." The cool air hits Tony and he shivers at the cold air, they couldn't have planned this invasion during the summer or spring at least, it would have made this all so much more bearable.

Loki scoffs and throws himself onto the chair opposite Tony with a hand covering half of his face. Tony has a feeling the Prince had too much to drink last night, it would probably explain why he had attempted to pick Tony up like a bride and declare that he was going to 'take his new bride and take him to their married bed.' Really it made no sense to Tony who had ended up landing on his shoulder as soon as the man tried to pick him up.

It hurt but it wasn't too bad.

"I has never come to mind." He grumbles.

The old lady scoffs and Loki gives her a glare that has Tony want to scream to the woman to run for her life, but the woman simply glares back at the prince.

"You need to look after your things, Prince Loki."

"I need a better maid."

"I need to pee." And suddenly everyone is looking at Tony in looks of disgust.

"Well then go pee, you half-wit." The old woman cries and Tony turns to glare at her shortly before turning to look at Loki.

"Your guards won't let me leave to pee." He states and Loki lifts his head and watches Tony with a strange glance.

"And that is my problem?"

"Well unless you want me to pee all over your expensive carpets."

Loki goes to open his mouth but the old woman beats him to it.

"In your father's name, just let him go to the bathroom."

Loki growls at the old woman before shifting his head towards the entrance of the tent.

Tony almost jumps out of his seat, not giving a damn that he isn't wearing a top and that it is freezing outside.

"Put on your Tunic." Loki growls as the maid throws the fleeting figure a clean tunic, Tony pulls it over his head with a growl and almost bowls over the guards who watch him in shock and confusion.

He misses Pepper, he really does, but this old lady can really give him some ground in living with the crazed Prince.

That however doesn't mean he is willing to sit down and just allow the Asgardians to keep him locked up, no because he will get out of her and he will find a plan to do so.


	8. Fairy Tales

**Yeah I am not too sure on the ending of this chapter, but I decided to upload it anyway.**

**Hope you all enjoy.**

Tony has never missed making weapons for his enemies, well up until now, because at the moment he really does miss it, more than he probably should. Hell he would probably be roasting his frozen but in front of the forge instead of marching along with a bunch of hum drum soldiers.

He huffs out a loud breath and rubs his hands as he sits on the mare, a cord tied from the horses bridle to one of the armed soldiers that stand beside him, granted he doesn't have the same amount of bodyguards that Loki currently has, but then again the Prince seems to have a lot more freedom by the way he steers his horse around in zig zags with a wide smile on his face.

Yeah okay so it is a little harder to hate the man when he starts acting like a three year old riding a horse for the first time.

Okay maybe not that hard, but still it makes Tony feel a little bad for planning to pee in his boots every morning.

Loki smiles again and turns around in circles as he talks to one of the guards, who seem a lot more relaxed now then what they do at camp, it's almost like the man has two different personalities, probably more.

"Stark." The gigantic guard mutters, Tony had learnt his name a few hours ago when the man had almost dropped his food all over Tony who was in the middle of putting his boots on, the problem is it was some weird name that Tony had never even heard before.

It's probably an Asgardian thing though.

Tony looks down at him with an inquisitive stare, the man simply chuckles to himself.

"You look too serious." He says a little louder with a broad smile. "This is a joyous occasion." He pats the man beside him on the back who simply looks at the other man and throws his hands in the air with a loud call that everyone else reciprocates even the Prince.

Tony hums and looks at his hands, the callouses are beginning to blister and they ache from the long hours working and the quick changes from cold to warm environments which have dried his hands so quickly.

"And-" he looks back down at the man who smiles back up again at him.

"Magni." The man offers, not at all upset that his charge has forgotten his name

"Magni, what makes this day so 'Joyous'?" Tony asks looking back up at the spectacle before him.

In the distance he can see a few more people up ahead standing by a bunch of stones that don't look like they were placed in that way naturally, in fact the whole thing looks awfully man made and fake. Give Tony an hour, a bottle of mead and he could probably do a better job in setting whatever the hell that is up.

Magni looks up at him and gestures around him with an even wider smirk, Tony is a little shocked his cheeks aren't burning from the strain.

"Because it is the 23rd day of the 7th month." He says like it is the most obvious thing in the world, Tony looks down at him with a look of pure and utter confusion, why the hell would the date matter, in Midgardian culture, no one gives a flying hoot about the 23rd. Why because it is not that great of a day, it is just a normal goddamn day, unless-

"What is it his birthday?" Tony asks pointing towards the man in front who is laughing and smiling along with what one of the soldiers has said.

Magni the giant, hah has a nice ring to it, Magni laughs loudly and thankfully everyone else is laughing and being loud and obnoxious because at the moment he doesn't want any attention.

"No, Stark." He pats Tony's leg with what Magni thinks is a soft tap and what Tony thinks is like a hammer hitting a blade of grass.

Tony grits his teeth and looks down the other side, so that Magni does not feel bad, because Tony doesn't want the man to get upset, he is probably the closest thing to a friend here and it's nice to note that even if things go pear shaped and Tony is going to end up some kind of creepy human sacrifice than Magni could come into the rescue.

Yeah it is a very nice feeling.

"Today is the feast day of Loki." Tony blinks and looks at Magni with a frown.

Maybe birthdays have a different name in Asgard.

"So it is his birthday?"

Magni laughs again louder and he actually stops walking and almost collapses on his knees in his fit of hysteria.

"No, today is not Loki's day of birth." He says after a few moments of composure, which only causes Tony to give him another confused look. "Today is the feast day of Loki, the god of mischief, fire and lies."

Tony sat back in thought as they were led towards the pile of rocks in the centre.

He had never paid much attention to his History studies like Steve did, didn't mean Steve was the better student, not for the lack of trying though, he really did try, it wasn't Tony's fault he beat him in everything including the physical training, well that was before Steve took his training more seriously and ended up training with the guards night and day when he could have been out with Tony managing to steal mead and alcohol from men who were either too slow, dumb or drunk to realise how old he was.

But from what he remembers in learning of the 'Ancient ways' that many of the kingdoms including Midgard and Asgard had believed in many gods, nowadays in Midgard there is only one god, well if you believe, because Tony doesn't not for the lack of his mother's trying, just the whole religion thing never struck him as being interesting or even plausible.

So it seemed that the Asgardians were still very much into the old ways.

"So what Loki," Tony points at the Prince who almost seems too excited to be healthy. "Is named after a god, who is also called Loki?"

Magni smiles and nods his head.

"Many people are named after the gods." He looks out over the grassy meadows that surround them with a fond smile. "Tis a great honour."

Tony frowns slightly as he watches two of the men who walk beside Loki hug each other joyously whilst another man leaps onto their backs, unafraid that their weapons may stab someone or that their weight maybe too much for another to handle, it's strange and surreal and Tony feels completely out of his element.

"I have another question." Tony asks peeling his eyes from the men just ahead of him and looking back down towards Magni. "Why are you so happy to celebrate the god of lies?"

Magni looks up at him with a smile that seems so genuine and yet fake that it hurts.

"Because what is the biggest lie than one of happiness."

Okay so he has him there.

They continue forward at a now slow pace, as if the horses have finally just given up on their once quick and fast pace they had set throughout the night.

"It is a great morning, isn't it?"

Tony turns around and faces the Prince who is once again smiling and acting jovially. Tony wants to shove his enthusiasm up his-

"I have seen better." He mutters turning back to the front, but perhaps Loki doesn't hear him because he doesn't comment and nor does he stop smiling and come on its creepy.

There is a quiet amongst the two, but Tony can tell the man is smiling still. There is a sudden gush of wind and Tony shivers at the feeling hating the way that he is the only one that feels the shift in the weather. Magni stands beside him wearing a sleeveless tunic but continues to smile despite the biting air.

Tony all of a sudden hates his new friend.

"You look cold." Loki says and Tony turns to meet his gaze.

"I'm fine." He says turning back around to face the front, they are getting closer to the centre and Tony can see the figures already there more clearly.

Loki smirks to himself before pulling something out from behind him, Tony looks at him noticing the movement and almost jumps back in surprise when Loki hands him some furs.

"Here. These will keep you warm." And before Tony can react Loki has cantered off and is now leading the troupe towards the stone centre.

"The prince shows you favour." Magni says softly, Tony would almost say in awe, well if it wasn't for that massive grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah." Tony mutters throwing the furs on the back of the horse, not really caring if they fall off or not.

Magni watches the fur before turning back forward and marching towards the pillars. Tony briefly wonders if the man is smiling before he stares up towards where they are headed.

Loki has already jumped up off the horse and is walking towards the centre hugging a robbed figure that stands beside the centre, it doesn't take much for Tony to realise who it is that Loki is so chummy with.

Doom.

Doom grabs Loki by the shoulder and pulls him around the centre stone which has an assortment of candles and other paraphernalia that has Tony a little more nervous, like who knows maybe end up sacrificing him.

"Stark," Tony looks down towards Magni, the horse has stopped and Magni holds out his hands waiting for Tony to take them. "Hope down of the horse."

Tony frowns at the man and shakes his head refusing the giant man's help.

After all he is no damsel in distress.

He jumps down of the horse with no help, but his knees give out and he almost collapses to the ground, well he would have if Magni the friendly giant didn't swoop in to the rescue.

"Thanks Mags." Tony mutters patting the man on the bare shoulder, and damn if his skin isn't as cold as ice.

Magni laughs and almost pushes Tony away in a cheerful fashion.

Tony walks around to where most of the guard's stands and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Magni is following him like a bad smell. Doom is standing on the exact opposite side of the centre stone with Loki's hand in his own and a leather bound scroll in the other.

Tony frowns at the scroll, and he wants to know everything about it, he wants to read everything in that scroll, well until Doom starts reading the scroll out loud in some weird language that Tony has never even heard and it sound gross, rough and it reminds him of Clint when he is drunk and suddenly he doesn't want to read the scroll, he wants to learn the language to learn everything about the language and then read that fucking scroll.

And because he is a goddamn legend he will do it in an afternoon.

Then there is a fire in the centre of the stone table, a fire that has quite literally sprung up from nowhere. The candles are lit and the cool wind gets colder, right about now he really wishes he had those furs.

Then the guards are talking all around him, no not talking they are responding in that guttural moan like voice that has Tony shivering.

There is a glitter of metal in the early morning sun and it catches Tony's eye as he watches the blade rise in the air before cutting across the Princes pale skin.

Tony lets out a barely audible gasp that no one can hear, but he doubts that when the Princes eyes open and they catch sight of Tony and he smiles at him.

Then the candles burn out and the wind picks up so quickly that even Magni gets pushed back against the crowd behind them, but that isn't the scary part, no because Loki is shining, he is glowing green and it's not just an aura that gypsies would talk about at a festival, no because this is bright, and he can see it as clear as he can see his hands in front of his face.

"Holy mother of Fuck." Tony mutters.

Because this isn't science, this right now is fairy tale, the stuff his mother would tell him before bed as a boy, except that would make Tony a damsel in distress and Loki would clearly be the vile magician who steals the damsel, while plotting world domination, because it seems like something he would do.

Now all he needs is a prince charming to save him.

Great, now he has just admitted that he is a girl, and not just any girl a damsel in distress.

He looks up at Loki who looks back at him with a wide grin and suddenly everything doom is saying is not important, because this fucker is magic and things just got a whole lot scarier and more dangerous than he has ever imagined.

And he doesn't know if he loves it or hates it.


	9. Fans are Great and All, But-

**Hey guys once again thanks for reading and commenting it is muchly appreciated. **

**Hope you enjoy.**

"Stark!" Someone exclaims so loud that Tony almost drops the carefully crafted metal into the furnace, he scowls and quickly turns towards the voice. Planning on tearing them a new one.

It is a man who is rounded and plump with a smile the size of his face, and he wonders if there is something in the water that makes everyone so happy, he has a beard that reaches down to his chest and in one arm he has a plate of food.

He stares at the food in wonder, because he has just eaten and surly that food isn't for him, he doesn't eat as much as the Asgardians and seriously after that mammoth of a breakfast he doubts he will be able to consume anymore food.

"Yeah?" he shifts his focus to Magni who ignores the visitor with disinterest, he guesses this guy isn't much of a threat.

The man walks in towards Tony, who has to put the beginnings of the sword down because he knows what is going to happen next, it seems like it is a popular way of greeting to the Asgardians, and at the moment he doesn't want to start stepping on peoples toes, especially after recent developments i.e. Loki and is mystical abilities.

Although the whole magic thing does tie up a lot of loose ends because what better way to induce abnormal strength and hearing than goddamn magic. Nothing because scientifically it is not possible, so really Loki is not possible.

The man practically picks the young blacksmith up in greeting, the plate in his hands digging into his back, and okay air is a necessity and he needs it and not to be too rude but really Tony has smelt better things in a bed pan.

"Okay, I need air." Tony breaths out in a hushed whisper, because with every breath this guy squeezes tighter, like some exotic death by hugging scenario.

There is a loud rumble of laughter that jolts the younger man before he is dropped to the ground in an ungraceful pile, Tony swerves slightly on his feet before regaining composure and air.

"Uh, what can I do for you?" Tony asks, picking up the large utensils to heat the metal again, he really needs to get this done for one of the guards, so then he can work on his ingenious plan of escape.

He doesn't turn around only focusing on his job.

"Nothing." The large man says and Tony can tell the man is smiling.

Tony pauses and shrugs his shoulders before bringing the metal out and picking up his hammer to finish crafting the sword, it shouldn't take him long to get it done but it would be quicker if this guy wasn't staring at him.

"Okay then." He begins in hitting the metal along the edges flattening it with as much force as he can, he was told to make this as sharp as he can without destroying the structural integrity of the sword, well they didn't say that but they sure did imply it.

Little do they know all the weapons Tony makes are sharp, well the ones he makes for his home team anyway.

He can feel the man watching him again and it is starting to really annoy him. He sighs loudly and throws the hammer down on the table with a careless throw before dipping the sword into the cooling bucket on the opposite side of him. He can sharpen the metal later when he isn't being watched.

"Why are you here then?" he asks instead taking off his gloves and stashing them into his aprons pocket.

The man smiles and stuff what Tony thinks is a slice of bread into his mouth, it makes him a little qesuy watching him eat so instead he focuses on something else, like Magni who still pays little attention to what is happening in the tent.

Okay, so Magni, must know this stranger, whoever he is.

"I wanted to thank you." He says putting the plate down and Tony thanks every god he can think of Ancient and modern ones.

Okay so Tony has never seen this guy around camp before so he is a little confused on why he is being thanked. He hasn't done anything truly noteworthy recently.

"Uh, what for?"

The man smiles wider and okay seriously these guys need to learn self-control.

"For this." And with that he brings out a massive axe and Tony jumps back with a yelp almost banging into one of the coal trenches behind him, the hot air being emitted hits his back and a cool slick of sweat drips down his back at the thought of falling into the burning coal.

The man doesn't notice Tony's fall from grace if you will, instead he is looking at the blade with a smile as he admires it, and Tony recognises it.

It had come in a week ago and he had been told to fix it as fast as he could, which had been a bit of a challenge in itself, Tony had never worked with gold before and this golden axe had been one of the most difficult things, but he had gritted his teeth and fixed it anyway.

Tony takes a moment and walks towards the axe with a look of interest. The axe had been almost split in two and he had no idea how he could have done it but he had managed to repair it and even added an extra axe head on the back with the remaining gold he had been given to fix the weapon.

"So you were the mysterious owner." Tony mutters, the gold looks freshly cleaned compared to its muddied and dirtied owner, meaning the axe must be something very special to the big oaf.

The man grins down at Tony.

"I have no idea how you fixed this, but I thank you."

Tony grins back up at the man and pats his shoulder.

"No problem Fritz." He turns back around and pikes the sword out of the cooling bucket and brings it over to the sandstone block with a sigh.

Stane stands beside it and watches the other man with curiosity.

"As soon as Fandral had said that the great Anthony Stark, was working as a blacksmith in Loki's camp, I ordered them to take this to you, to fix." He smiles as if he is proud of himself for choosing the blacksmith and Tony half-smiles at the man before shooting Stane a look that clearly says this guy is crazy.

Stane looks at Tony and doesn't do anything, instead he turns back to the scrolls he is reading.

They haven't got much work today with the last battle happening up to two weeks ago and the next planned attack in another two weeks.

"I wouldn't trust anyone else with my weapons Stark." The man says again clearly following Tony around, who is still trying to escape the man, but not in a too obvious way, like he mentioned before he doesn't want to step on too many toes at the moment.

"Uh, Thanks." He turns around to face the man with a cocked brow. "Sorry didn't catch your name?"

The man drops his smile as if offended and Tony panics for a moment, were you not supposed to ask people for their names in Asgard?

"My apologies, Stark." He bows his head before looking up slightly and yeah Tony could get use to this kind of treatment. "I am Volstagg the Enormous." He claims smiling cheerfully and patting his protruding belly with great joy.

"Pleasure to meet you Volstagg." Tony greets shaking his hand before standing behind the shaving block.

"Pleasure is all mine Stark."

"Call me Tony." Tony replies sharpening the blade avoiding the sparks that fly up and try to hit him in the face.

Volstagg smiles and bows slightly again. "I can't wait until I tell Hogun who fixed my mighty axe." He says excitedly and Tony is a little concerned for the man's mental health.

"Thank you, Lord Volstagg, but unfortunately Tony has some work to finish up." Stane speaks up and Tony is a mixture of grateful and annoyed at the man because come on that guy was bowing to him, and what is better than a total stranger bowing to you? That's right nothing.

The large man quietly 'ohs' and goes to leave the tent picking up his plate while he is at it before turning back towards the two with an apologetic smile.

"My apologies I wouldn't want to keep a master such as you Stark, from your work." And with that he is gone.

"What the hell just happened?" Tony asks continuing his sharpening while looking towards Stane who is furiously reading the scroll.

"You have a fan." Stane comments his eyes never leaving the page, Tony sense a little bit of hostility, but he doesn't comment on it.

He quickly checks the front of the tent with a frown and notices Magni talking to the baker, who is a short skinny little man with no hair on his head or face.

"We need to talk about the plan." Tony mutters to Stane, who finally looks up from the scrolls.

He stares back at Tony with a frown. "Later Tony."

"But-"

"Later." He growls and Tony moves his head back a little before Stane sighs loudly. "Just get out of here Tony, I will finish up." Stane gets up from leaning against one of the benches and moves over towards Tony who has completely stopped what he was doing.

Tony finally shrugs his shoulders, it's not like they had much to do anyway and Loki would be due to 'pick him up' soon anyway, maybe if he was already gone he could do something else around camp, until Magni gets scared and finally takes him back to Tony.

"Yeah sure, say 'Hi' to Pep for me." Tony says handing the half-finished blade to the older man and taking off his apron.

It turned out that Loki had simply given Pepper to serve Stane, thankfully Tony trusted the man enough not to touch his wife, and Pepper did too, especially since Stane had always ended up in bed with a nameless slave every night while Pepper ended up safe and sound in the slave's quarters.

Stane had often delivered Tony, mail from the woman and he in return sent letters to Pepper, unfortunately Tony would have to read and burn the letters during work, just in case Loki found out.

"See ya tomorrow." Tony calls before leaving the tent with his personal guard.

Stane frowns and continues to sharpen the sword, once it is done he pulls it away and looks at the blade, noticing all the fine lines and straight edges to it, truly a beautiful sword and weapon. He growls at it and throws it into the furnace.

"It seems we share a similar distaste." A voice sounds from the entry and Stane turns a frustrated glare upon the refined voice.

"What do you want Doom." He replies cleaning up most of the area, he doubts he will be able to get any work done today, so he might as well spend the day doing whatever he wants.

"The same thing you do." And suddenly Stane is interested and he looks up with a cocked brow and Doom smiles because he has the man right where he wants him. "I want Stark gone."

Stane smiles at Doom with a vicious grin the Doom shares with the older man.


	10. Tell Me More

**Hey guys only short one, but I figured you would all enjoy this chapter. **

**Enjoy **

It's a cold and quiet night as they both lay in the bed, Loki's eyes peering holes into Tony's closed ones. There is a loud sigh and a ruffle of sheets but Loki continues to stare at his bed mate.

"I can't sleep when someone is staring at me." Tony mutters not really caring if he offends the man or not, it's just that he is tired after spending the whole day with Magni, they fished for an hour and then decided it would be fun to wrestle for a bit.

Tony figures it must have been fun for the giant who had continuously laughed with every move Tony made, okay so he wasn't good at wrestling or that physical stuff, well not as good as Magni who ran circles around the genius and had managed to pin him to the ground in three seconds.

There is a huff of breath which sounds between amusement and annoyance and smells like pine trees.

"Then don't sleep." Loki mutters.

Tony sighs loudly and opens his eyes to look at the man. Those green eyes are staring at him as if concerned but Tony doesn't think the Mad Prince is concerned at all.

And he panics for a moment because Loki hasn't slept with him in a few weeks, he hasn't even kissed him or touched him and it has been a little strange and concerning.

"Volstagg was quite enamoured with you." Loki comments off handily with a smile.

Tony pauses for a moment before the memory hits him and he frowns. "Who, Tubby? That man would be a fan of a roast if he could." Tony replies only to be answered with a breathy chuckle.

"Tell me about your family." He whispers softly, Tony wants to turn around and face the roof of the tent, to map out the intricate design of the fabric again, it usually works to put him to sleep. But Loki has a look about him that tells him if he did do it the man will just pull him back so that they are facing each other again.

"Why?" Tony asks pulling the blankets up closer to his face so he can snuggle up to them, they are really comfortable furs.

"Because I want to know." Loki answers simply as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.

Tony sighs loudly and moves one of his hands under the side of his head with a frown.

"What do you want to know?" Because refusing something like this to the other man could be the difference between wine with dinner or water. And for Tony alcohol is one of the most important things in the world.

Loki thinks for a moment and Tony can almost see those gears turning in his head. "Tell me what your parents are like."

Tony sighs again and closes his eyes. "Well everyone knows who my parents are, so why not. Do you want the rumours, or the truth?" Tony asks, he doesn't know why he asks he just does, he blames the sleep addled brain at the moment.

"The truth." Loki answers softly and Tony opens his eyes and stares right back into those green ones.

"Well my father Howard, married my mother when they were young, it wasn't arranged though. They were in love." Loki gives him a strange look with a cocked brow, it's uncommon to marry because of love, but both Stark men had.

"How did they meet?" Tony smiles to himself and looks off to the wall behind Loki's head, he had often begged to hear the story from his mother.

"My mother was of noble birth, distant cousins to the king or something, she was beautiful and still is. One day when she was young she followed my grandfather off to one of his hunts, she didn't get far though." Tony laughs slightly and shakes his head. "My grandfather had noticed her before he had left the town and sent her back with a stern warning, she had pouted but gone back, on her way back she managed to slip on a stone and had fallen into a pile of manure," He laughs again, before going eerily silent. "My father, a local blacksmith's son, had noticed her slip and helped her up. She was upset and kept crying, my father thought she was embarrassed so he too pretended to slip and land in the same pile of poo." He frowns slightly and shifts in his position. "Then a couple of years later after my father had gained fame from the wars, he asked to marry her, my grandfather, was pleased and they were soon married."

Loki makes a movement and shuffles a little closer making Tony nervous.

"Tell me more."

Tony frowns and looks down at the remaining space between the two of them, he wants more space, but he needs to be in their good graces otherwise he will get more privileges taken away from him.

"A few years after they had married and my mother hadn't produced any children yet, my father had found a poor orphan boy, being beaten by some soldiers." Tony frowns slightly at the story and tries not to think of Steve too much. "He had ordered the soldiers off, and took the boy in." Tony smiles lightly and the thought of his father doing something nice for anyone. "He had obviously gained fame and power within the community and he had managed to convince my grandfather to exile the men."

"Were you the Orphan boy?" Loki asks softly his hand inching into the space and his voice showing nothing but concern, Tony thinks the Prince is good at lying and manipulating and pays no attention.

"No, the year my grandfather died I was born." He frowns again before sliding a hand down his face.

"Tell me of your childhood." Loki orders with a soft voice and Tony kind of misses the angry violent words that usually stream out of the princes mouth.

"Loki, can I please go to sleep." He asks his eyes drifting shut.

It is silent for a few moments and the sound of rustling can be heard and suddenly there is a body right next to his and the smell of pine trees in his face.

"No, I want to know more." Loki says and there is a bite to his words that seems diluted.

Tony sighs again, refusing to open his eyes and look at the Prince who is so close to him, so, so close.

"My father valued brains amongst all else and he had put my brother and I into tutelage with the best tutor my father could find, as soon as we could walk and talk." He thinks back on the earliest he can remember, but it feels like he had spent his whole life being taught by the old man. "By the time I was five I had managed to beat my brother in all of our exams." He smiles proudly at himself and almost opens his eyes, but he remembers last minute resulting in some kind of fluttering eye effect.

"My brother use to try and beat me constantly, but he was a weak thing from living on the streets most of his childhood and he was sickly. I use to tease him all the time, dad would get so pissed at me." He laughs slightly at the memories. "We had this competition between us constantly, except I always won, until my fourteenth birthday, I started drinking and sleeping with pretty girls-"

"Is that not early to drink amongst Midgardians?" Loki asks and Tony has the slight feeling he is angry and yet amused at the same time, this guy just gives off mixed signals.

"Yeah, really early, my mother and father would spend most of the day yelling and screaming at me and during the night I would spend most of the time with a drink in my hand and a woman on my lips." He laughs again at the memories.

"And you did this up until you ran away?"

Tony opens his eyes in shock and looks at Loki, who seems genuinely interested, and he sees those gears working again in his head. "No," he answers and Loki cocks a brow and adjusts his shoulders, prepared to listen to more of what Tony has to say. "There was a moment when I stopped," he looks back on his memories and thinks of Pepper and the early months of their marriage. "It was maybe a year ago, just after my seventeenth."

"You met someone?" Loki asks and Tony wonders how much he should actually tell the Prince.

"Yeah, you could say that. She was beautiful, well she still is beautiful." He laughs and Loki frowns again. "I was happy with her."

"What happened?"

"I fucked up." He mutters with a frown. "I got drunk and went back to my old ways." He frowns and closes his eyes, because he will not cry, he will not cry in front of this man.

"Does she still love you?" Loki asks and Tony notices the present tense of the word, but he doesn't comment on it.

"I hope so."

Loki frowns slightly and looks down at the blankets covering Tony. "Do you still love her?"

"Yes." He answers immediately not even thinking about it, because it is true. Loki scowls and almost immediately roles over on the bed and faces the other way with a glare at the young man.

Tony frowns slightly but shrugs his shoulders and closes his eyes.

Whatever is wrong with the Prince doesn't bother him at the moment because sleep soon takes over and before long he is wrapped in a sleepy cocoon and he dreams of his family and the past.


	11. I Know What You Did

**Hey you guys thanks so much for reading really appreciate it **

**So this chapter is a little different from the last one, okay very different. **

**Hope you enjoy. **

Tony glares at the man in front of him and if it weren't for the fact that there are two men pulling him back he would be over towards him in a heartbeat, beating the absolute crap out of him, because that giant wad of ear wax deserves it.

"You are a foul creature." He spits following it up with an actual spit directed at the Prince, but it falls halfway there and ends up hitting the floor by his left foot.

Loki continues to glare at him with that cool indifference that he wore when this argument started, in fact he hasn't shown much emotion at all except for that god forsaken cool glare.

Loki sits on top of his wooden desk half of the furniture hasn't been moved since they arrived at their new position by a small town to the East of his home, where the air is slightly warmer and the ground is slightly firmer, better than that mush they had been living in for the past few months.

The day of course had started innocently enough with the whole campsite beginning to set everything up, naturally with a lot of people everywhere and chaos all around them as people tried to claim the best spots for their tents, Tony had run into Pepper who was in the middle of helping Stane with his own arrangements.

That's when he saw it, the purpling around her jaw, the marks all along her arms and her neck, with long purple and yellow marks.

"Who did this?" he had asked her, well not really asked more like yelled in her face.

But she wouldn't answer even after he had gripped her forearms and shaken her until she would look at his face and tell him who had hurt her, she had remained silent and glared at the floor, tears in her eyes.

Naturally Tony had asked if Obadiah had touched her, but she had shaken her head and laughed at him, because Obadiah was the one to tend to her wounds to give her ice and tell her to rest and treated her like a favourite daughter. Tony sighed and told her he would owe the older man whatever he wanted for helping her.

But still that didn't exactly tell him who had harmed her.

So he had rounded off question after question, but she would simply look to her feet and cry.

It broke his heart it really did, because here was Pepper, beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful and brave Pepper Stark crying over a couple of questions.

But no amount of questioning would make her tell him.

It wasn't until her eyes had flickered up behind him and her jerky movements to pull back away from Tony, that he started to piece the puzzle together, he turned around and looked towards where she had been staring and there they were standing in a row beside Loki's tent, Tony's tent.

His mind had gone blank as he walked towards the tent with a snarl pushing back the doorway and almost running into the Prince who had laughed and smiled when he saw Tony, the bastard had actually smiled when he saw him, and suddenly everything was white, like a blinding white and next thing he remembers is being pulled off the Prince kicking and screaming, he had managed to land two hits to the man's abdomen in a flurry of movements, granted he had probably tried to hit him over a dozen times, but still that was impressive.

"Don't ever touch her again." Tony says again trying to pull himself away from the two nameless and faceless goons behind him, he wishes Magni or Hlin where here, they would be able to comfort and calm him down, but they were off, Magni was helping the preparations to takeover yet another major town and Hlin was teaching some new slaves how to prepare dinner for this evening.

Loki cocks his head this time and Tony should be frightened of what he could do to him but he won't be scared of this man, he refuses to.

"Why Stark?" Loki asks, he finally says something and Tony smiles because he has cracked the man. "Why should I not touch her, she is nothing but a slave girl." He spits moving up from his position towards the three men.

Tony growls literally growls at him and his fight to get free escalates until it begins to look like some form of dancing. But Loki smiles at him again and moves closer still, Tony's feet becoming harder to move, like someone is clamping them together.

"She is more than that!" Tony shouts he can feel his face go bright red.

Loki sneers at him before turning around and pouring himself a chalice of wine. "Really?" he takes a long sip before turning back around his face is still marred by a hideous snarl. "What more is she? Hm? The love of your life? A beautiful jewel? No, I know, she is one in a million." Loki laughs and Tony can tell one of the men behind him is also laughing.

Tony growls slightly before looking up at the man with a smirk, which forces the Prince to cock his brow again in question.

"No she is way more than that."

Loki places his chalice down and moves towards Tony and bows slightly so that he can look up at him.

"What is she then, Stark?"

Tony looks at the Prince with a wide smile, the moment is tense and quiet and Tony has a feeling he could cut through the air with a knife.

"My wife."

The pain is blinding with enough force that Tony spits up blood, he is surprised a tooth hasn't fallen out, he groans loudly and spits a wad of blood onto the carpet, this time more determined to get as much blood as he can onto the precious carpet.

But the silence remains for a while and when Tony look up Loki has both brows risen and looks as if he too is in pain and Tony thinks 'Why the fuck are you in pain, you're not the one that just got whacked in the jaw?'

"Oh gods." Loki mutters and Tony frowns. "I never meant to hurt you." He says again and okay where the hell did that come from?

"What?" Tony says and Loki is kneeling beside him, his hands cupping his jaw as he looks at Tony.

"Let me fix it, I can fix it."

"My Lor-"

"Leave!" Loki demands pushing his hands towards the doors and suddenly, no one is holding Tony up and he slumps to the floor into Loki's arms with a groan.

Tony reals back as far as he can go which apparently isn't that far before he sees stars and falls forward again into Loki's arms. He feels like he has been in a round with Magni and a bear, except this time Magni isn't holding back and the bear is rabid and has the sharpest claws tony has ever see and felt and- Whoa, okay so Loki has picked him up.

The Prince carries the injured man away from the floor a trail of blood dripping behind them as Tony's mouth fills up with more blood.

"I can fix this." He says softly placing the injured man on the bed and Tony can't move properly because everything feels heavy and his chest is pounding.

"I can't believe you hit me." Tony mutters regaining his composure and embarrassment. He looks up at the god who is watching him in concern. "Why the fuck did you hit me?" Tony says again, but he regrets it because suddenly he is swallowing his blood and the though makes him feel sick.

"I can fix this." Loki says, this time the shake in his voice is gone and replaced with a cool determination, yeah this guy has like three different personalities. It's crazy.

He places his hand over Tony's face, but Tony pushes it off and gets up on the bed until he is kneeling and staring at the Prince with a blank look.

"Don't touch me." He says and Loki's face shifts until he is glaring. "Don't ever, fucking, touch me." Tony growls, he moves back on the bed and it's the wrong movement because suddenly Loki has tackled him and his hand is clenched around his jaw and he is growling like a dog.

"I will touch you if it so pleases me Stark." He growls lowly in Tony's ear and the man tries to move his face but he can't because Loki has clenched it tight it his hand, there is a warmth that slowly spreads from his jaw and envelops his face.

Tony tries to squirm away from the strange feeling coming from Loki's hand, but he can't he is trapped underneath the Prince who is looking deeply into Tony's eyes with a frown.

Then the numbing pain in his jaw is gone as well as the salty taste of blood which is replaced with a taste of chicken, which is surprising to say the least, and in almost an instant Loki has gotten off the bed and is watching Tony with great interest.

Tony has frozen to the spot his jaw moving as if trying to test if there is any pain, remarkably he is pain free, better than he has ever felt in fact, as if he has slept for an eternity and has awoken to a room filled with food, mead and women. He feels good.

Slowly he sits up and appraises the man in front of him, whom he is assuming is doing the exact same thing to him.

"If you're expecting a thank you, you can fuck off." Tony says suddenly with a growl, only he doesn't know if he is joking or not.

Loki smirks at him then and-yep there it is there is the anger.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He says before leaving the tent.

Okay so today did not turn out the way he was expecting, then again he doesn't really know what to expect from the Prince.


	12. Karma, Wench

**Hey guys thanks once again for reading this and commenting if you have, comments and reviews make me so happy. **

**Enjoy. **

It's too , he thinks to himself as he hears the pounding of footsteps all around him on the outside of the tent, way too early.

But apparently no one else thinks it is too early because suddenly there is a rustling sound coming from in front of him and the footsteps are now louder and he knows that they have entered the tent because some people just want to watch the world burn.

"Master Loki." A voice breaths, Tony is a little unsure if the voice belongs to a woman or a child, but whoever it is, is disturbing his sleep.

He frowns in his sleep and goes to stretch but there is something in his arms, and up against his chest, he frowns slightly in his half dazed state, before opening his mouth in a yawn and, yuck what the hell is in his mouth he makes a strange motion still refusing to open his eyes because then the voice will know that Tony is awake and then they will kick him out of the warm bed and out into the cold morning, and he doesn't want that. But seriously there is something in his mouth, like straw, no, not straw, hair.

He opens his eyes slightly still feigning sleep and he comes face to face with hair, black hair.

He panics for a moment and suddenly there is a crash as he fights the blankets of doom, to get away from the sleeping Prince who he was apparently spooning through the night, great good work Tony, you're supposed to hate the guy, not spoon him in your sleep.

What would your mother say?

He frowns slightly because she wouldn't say anything, more likely she would demand someone stand there and draw or paint him whilst he slept with a bed mate, she was oddly fanatic about moments where he looked innocent.

There is a puff of breath from in front of him and he just knows that loud sigh came from Loki. "If you'd had stayed like that for a few more seconds he would have left." He says in a sleepy tone, and Tony can't help but poke his tongue out at the Prince.

Then Loki is up and stretching with a feline grace, his night shirt rising up a little as he gets up out of the bed and faces the intruder.

He is merely a boy, with long blonde hair that seems to stick to his forehead, his cheeks are bright red and puffed as he catches his breath he wears bright red clothes that poof out into shorts with golden armour on that looks completely new and tarnished, Tony can almost immediately tell he is a messenger, well mostly because apart from his ridiculous clothes he also has a messenger bag which looks too old to be still in use.

"What is it?" Loki asks, a little concerned. Tony is surprised that the man hasn't completely destroyed the young boy who has just barged into the tent so early in the morning, particularly because even Tony and Hlin, the maid, have to be close to absolute silent whilst the Prince sleeps, but Hlin, ignores the tirades and wakes Loki up whenever she can, whilst Tony will occasionally 'accidently' drop armour or cups and plates, just to annoy the man.

"Your Father sends word, Jotenheim has attacked." The boy huffs out and Loki is up in an instant his body is as far away from the bed as he can get in a matter of 0.25 seconds.

"When?" Loki demands his fingers already trailing over his helmet, before shooting a look at the young boy who follows his movements like a hawk.

"A week ago, King Odin has already dispatched Thor to the area."

Loki growls and throws a cup at one of the tent walls, the fabric tears open and a cool gush of air comes in, Loki screams at the top of his lungs and both Tony and the boy cover their ears at the sound.

There is a cool trickle of sweat and fear cooling down Tony's skin and his insides feel as if the weight a tone possibly more, the Man can be terrifying when he wants to be. Tony wants Hlin here, she can always calm the prince with a few gentle words, and not so gentle words, like 'What would your father think?' or 'Honestly, I have seen a two year old with better manners than you.'

Then Loki is over at the boy in an instant his hands curling into the boy's tunic as he picks him up off the ground and Tony can see the fear in his eyes.

"Put him down Loki." Tony growls getting up from his bundled heap off the floor, and Loki's eyes flicker to his and Tony can see the raging fire of, well rage in his eyes. But Loki has turned back and is looking at the boy again, shaking him.

"Does father know, what a fool Thor can be?" Loki growls lowly into the boy's face and when he doesn't answer Loki screams, "Does he?!"

"I-I don't know!" the boy sobs out loudly, and Loki hasn't had enough because he is shaking him again.

The boy is shivering now, tears in his eyes and Tony can't stand to watch this.

He takes a stand and marches towards the two, he can tell that Loki knows that he is marching towards him, but he stops two feet away from the two unable to get any closer, because if he does, he will hit him.

"Loki, Put the boy down." And Loki glares at him again.

"Why should I?" And if he doesn't sound like a petulant child.

Tony growls and moves forward again. "Look at him, you fucking dick, he is petrified." Loki continues to glare and Tony really wants to punch him, square in the jaw.

"Loki, put him down, my word," another voice says and both Tony and Loki look towards the Tent entrance with a frown, and Tony thanks his luck stars because there is Hlin, he stout figure staring at Loki in annoyance, as if he had woken her up, which he probably did. "Honestly, I have seen better manners from a wild dog."

Loki snarls but puts the boy down with a steely glare aimed towards his maid, Tony would really like to know the story behind these two.

Then she shoots her gaze over to the boy and gives him a soft smile, honestly it's the nicest he has ever seen her act. He had often thought of her as a dragon, a dragon that is able to calm Loki down in the blink of an eye.

"Thank you sweet heart, just leave the message there." She points towards a side table, covered in scrolls and last night's supper. "And send our regards to Odin and Frigga." Oh first name basis with the king and queen of Asgard, the plot thickens.

The boy nods his head and Tony feels really bad for the kid, it must be hard enough that he has to deliver messages all day without rest, let alone almost being beaten because of a small piece of news that Loki didn't take kindly too.

Next thing you know he has dropped a scroll onto the table and is out of the tent in a flash, Hlin, shoots her glare back at Loki, who simply snarls at her before rounding his desk and sitting at his chair. Tony frowns at the man, but decides to ignore him and instead moves towards last night's pail of water, he needs to wash up, and he feels dirty and gross.

He picks up the cloth and shrugs off his tunic leaving him in just his pants as he washes the upper part of his body.

"What were you thinking, picking up that boy and almost scaring him half to death." Hlin lectures and Tony knows that Loki is rolling his eyes.

"Stupid spoilt arse." Tony mutters and before he knows it there is a fresh Tunic being thrown at him, which is surprisingly hard, he winces and spins around to face the pair the tunic stuck to the back of his head.

Loki continues to stare down at a few of the scrolls with a frown, will Hlin levels Tony with a glare.

"And don't get me started on you, just standing there and watching." The tsks and Tony frowns at her throwing the tunic over his head.

"Hey I tried to tell him to stop." He says, Hlin continues her glare and shakes her head.

"You could have done more, slave."

"Don't call him that." Loki growls standing to full height now his chair pushing against the carpet creating air bubbles in the fabric. Tony scowls because he knows Hlin will have to move the furniture to get it out.

Hlin stares at Loki then and her glare softens before shooting Tony yet another look, except this one is different and Tony has no idea what it is supposed to mean because it doesn't make sense to him.

"My apologies." She says softly to Tony who glares at Loki now, why should he try and defend him after he beat him the other night. She turns back to Loki, who is watching her with a blank expression. "What news did he bring?" She asks with a soft demand, Loki sits down and looks down at various scrolls.

"Jotenheim," he says softly throwing a scroll towards the other end of the table before looking back up at Hlin. "They have attacked Asgard." Hlin gasps loudly and Tony rolls his eyes, Karma bitch. "Father has sent Thor home, and I am to remain here for the time being." Loki picks up another scroll and reads it carefully.

Tony doubts he is actually reading it though.

"Is there anything else you need, Sire?" Hlin says, her voice is soft and caring and when Loki shakes his head she nods carefully.

"I wish to be alone at this time." He says softly and Tony takes that as his cue to leave, he picks up his equipment and follows Hlin out the door.

He can feel Loki watching him as he leaves.


	13. Well This Is Awkward

**Hey guys thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoy.**

Tony had heard many stories of Jotuns from his father, he had learnt that they had almost impenetrable fortresses, and their clothing consisted of almost nothing but a few leather straps and furs that covered their privates and shoulders. He had also heard that they were such vile and disgusting creatures that they would often eat the flesh of their victims in the hopes that they would gain their enemies strength and that their skin was a pale blue with blood red eyes that stared into their enemies soul petrifying anything in their wake, with heads that were so strong a knock on the head would do nothing but make them angrier.

So you can imagine his surprise when he saw a man with a painted blue face on the ground after he had hit him over the head with a leftover plate from lunch.

"Oh My God." He mutters to himself, not 100%sure what he should do, does he find someone and tell them he just knocked out a Jotun? Or does he continue to stand here and panic, because Panicking sounds pretty good right now he will admit.

"M-Magni?" he calls his voice shaking and a little contorted, he coughs slightly and orders his brain to shut down and stop panicking. "Magni!"

Much better.

There is a loud rustle from beside him and he assumes it is the giant trying to make his way towards their makeshift forge, which everyone decided to place away from everyone and beside a forest. Much to Tony's dismay.

He hates this forest his father had taken he and Steve hunting there one day and they had come across a pack of wolves, yeah apparently these wolves love this particular forest, but no one listened to him about the dangers of putting the forge here, and yet here he stands with a Jotun at his feet.

"Magni, what is Loki's policy on Jotuns?"

"Stark, what are you talking about?" He says in his thick accent, but as soon as his massive head pokes out from outside the tent and he sees the person at Tony's feet, his confusion shifts into a look of surprise.

"Yeah, we may need to ask him." Tony says with a loud sigh, rubbing the back of his neck in concern, seriously what was the protocol? Should he have left the Jotun to wreak havoc upon the campsite so that he had an opportunity to get everyone out and escape, well he already had a part of the plan? He frowns slightly and quickly rolls up one of the scrolls he has before Magni sees it.

He likes the guy he really does, he would even call him a friend, but that doesn't6 change the fact that he is an enemy.

Magni walks towards the two and slowly inspects the Jotun before grabbing Tony by the wrist and lowering him to their level. Tony snarls at the pain of Magni's hold but he doesn't say anything to the giant man, because the guy can get annoyingly apologetic if he hurts Tony.

He goes to open his mouth to say something but before he can there is a flurry of curtains and the sounds of voices entering the forge, for a split second Tony think's it's another Jotun, he flails slightly in Magni's grip and spins around towards the tent entrance in a flurry of movement and manages to punch one of the tables in the process with a crunch and a bowl flying into the air hitting the ground with a loud clutter that has Tony wince more.

There at the entrance to the tent stands Obadiah who is frowning at the scene in front of him, that is until he takes in the half naked man that is lying on the ground in nothing but a leather loincloth, because then his eyes widen almost comically, Tony would laugh, he really would if it weren't for the distinct sound of Magni apologising to Tony for his grip.

"What in the-" the older man begins only to be cut off by Magni who is now firing off orders that have Obadiah nod his head stiffly and leave the tent as quickly as he came.

He is then spun around and is once again facing the giant man who is crouching down so that he is at eye level with the blacksmith his grip on his shoulders has softened slightly but it is still hard enough that Tony cannot get out even if he tried.

And he is saying something, something in his thick accent that Tony at the moment just can't understand, he feels like something has been fried in his head and suddenly he can't breathe properly, and really the shaking is not helping because his lungs feel as if they are going to fly out of his body and onto the cold and muddy floor right next to the lanky, pale, man who is lying on the floor with a lump the size of a large shield on his forehead.

He just hit someone. Someone had tried to attack him and he had fought them off, he beat that motherfucker. He doesn't know whether to be really happy or not. But suck on that dad, maybe he was cut out for the military.

"-Stark, you need to breath." Magni says quickly, his ignescent shaking has completely stopped; instead he is looking at Tony in a way that suggests he is staring at a broken toy.

"Wha?" Tony asks slowly shaking his head before looking up at the man who has cocked his head to the side and is looking up into his eyes.

"You need to breath." He says slowly and the drawl of his accent is mindboggling and relaxing in a peculiar way, he is pretty sure Loki doesn't have that accent; he would put money on it.

"I am." He says quickly and he hopes that Magni doesn't notice the slight hitch in his breath because no, he was not holding his breath for an insane amount of time, because he is totally not panicking and adrenaline is not rushing through his body at a speed of a thousand miles an hour.

Magni raises a brow in a very Tony way and he smirks slightly, looks like he is rubbing off on the friendly giant.

Tony pushes the man off him with a smirk and walks backwards away from the people in front of him and slowly inching towards the stool that he knows is behind him, it has to be because he was sitting on it a few moments ago before the whole thing had started.

The Jotun is still on the floor, his painted blue face bright with mud covering his right side. Tony would feel sorry for ruining his war paint, well would if it weren't for the bastard trying to kill him while he worked.

The tent opens again this time with almost an entire army of men running in towards the back of the forge, Magni immediately moves back allowing the men to inspect Tony's handiwork of 'beaten-Jotun de jour.'

"What happened?" someone asks and Tony knows that voice immediately, his body goes stiff and he stares deeply at the back of Magni's neck.

There room has gone silent as each man all of a sudden loses their tongue and they spin around and face their prince with a sombre nod of the head.

"A jotun." Magni begins and his rumble is so loud that Tony almost falls off his chair, but he rights himself and stops looking at Magni and instead focuses on the half made shield that he was supposed to be finishing today, but really it looks like it is not going to happen.

Loki has stalked his way towards the body on the floor and has crouched beside it within a couple of seconds the toe of his boat centimetres away from the blue face. Tony briefly wonders if the man will kick him, Tony knows he would, hell he would kick everyone in the tent, with the exception of Magni and Obadiah, who is now standing against the entrance with his arms folded over his chest.

Tony looks up from his position and he meets Loki's eyes, his gaze is steely and calm, but Tony can see past it he can slightly see the panic that is sitting there in his mind, because a Jotun this far into Midgard can mean numerous things, a possible alliance between the Jotuns and the Midgardians or that Jotenheim is so far into Asgard that the Jotuns are moving into Midgard.

With either option Asgard is screwed.

"Magni, take him back to the tent." He mutters in a low voice still staring at Tony with a blank expression. It takes Tony a minute to realise that yes, Loki is talking about him and that Magni is going to take him away.

And Tony doesn't know what to do, because while he wants to prove Loki wrong and say that 'yes, he is fine and he will continue to work', but another part of him is screaming in his ears that he needs to take a rest, to sleep in the bed and never wake up.

His knees are weak and his head is heavy so when Magni moves to walk beside him, Tony rests his head on his shoulder and almost cries in pleasure when the man picks him up.

He really can't deal with this shit anymore.


	14. We Will Find You

**Hey guys thanks for reading, this chapter is a little different.**

**Hope you all enjoy**. :)

The morning was once again brisk and slightly foggy, the cold wind blows into the room via the window which is still open, and has been for the past few months, as if merely having them open will bring their lost son home to them.

He knows it won't.

He knows his son will not return home anytime soon.

He also knows that there is an extremely high chance that their son is dead.

He doesn't like thinking about it, and he never mentions it out loud, but he knows that he is not the only one knowing this, he has seen the way people look at them in pity and how people offer their condolences for their lost son, as if already expecting him dead.

His wife, Maria, lays on the bed a cloth to her head and her usually tanned and dark skin flushed white with red splotches. It's a fever and has been a fever for the past few weeks; he knows she is only just hanging on.

He sits by her side her hand held tightly in his, he knows he is sobbing he only hopes it is not too loud.

There is a slight tickle in his throat that has been irritating him for the past few days, but he quickly and as quietly as he can diminishes it by clearing his throat.

It is the first time in two days that she has slept and he wants to keep it that way, she needs her rest and it is becoming difficult to answer her man questions without breaking down in tears himself, and he can't do that in front of her, because then she will know that he too is freighted and scared for his son.

"Lord Stark." A soft tentative voice calls from the door, he turns slowly towards the shorter man a pile of scrolls in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other, his soft dark brown curls cup his face with either sweat or water.

"Yes, Bruce." He says slowly releasing his wife's hand with a soft kiss to her hand, she whimpers slightly at the loss of contact and he looks back up at Bruce for a moment as if asking to stay, the younger man has placed the scrolls and pitcher down and is back at the door waiting for his lord.

Howard knows that he is the one with the bigger title and therefore can order the young doctor to say what he has to say here, but after everything that has happened, he doesn't really much appreciate ordering people around. For all he knows his protégé is probably a slave or a lower subject and he doesn't like the thought of that, there are after all worse things than death.

He forces his eyes shut at the thought, before looking back at his son's friend.

"It will only take a minute, my lord." He says slowly looking back at the woman on the bed who looks as if she may go into a fit at any moment, then again she has been doing so for the past few weeks and has only had a fit maybe twice and one of those was because she had a nightmare.

Howard slowly stands and flicks the back of his cloak back slightly moving towards the younger man, Bruce nods his head slightly in reassurance and moves out into the hallway, Howard follows and leaves the door slightly ajar, he doesn't want to leave her completely unattended.

He has refused handmaidens and nurses from looking after her and taking the brunt of it himself, as well as running his land and it's workers, but he only does that when the doctor decides to take over his shift and works over his wife to try and find a cure to what ails her.

"What is it?" he asks softly, he doesn't want to take a chance and wake her up.

"It seems Lady Stark has captured the flu." Bruce says slowly and Howard blanches but nods his head, it is to be expected he supposes, but with something like the flu death rates are high and the disease is spreadable, Howards isn't sure how yet and most modern scholars are trying to find out how it spreads but so far they have nothing bar the will of their god.

"How much is the medicine?" Howard says quickly pulling out a coin purse from his pocket, the coins rattle loudly and Bruce immediately steps back and shakes his head. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" he knows he is sounding hysterical, but he can't lose someone else, he really can't. He had already tried to order Steve to come home, telling him that it was no use losing another to find his son, Anthony was a smart boy and if he was alive he would know what to do to survive. He just can't lose someone else especially Maria.

"I-I can't." he says quietly and Howard almost misses what he says, except he can't miss it, because his stomach drops at the first intake of breath and tears spill at the last. "It's too late."

His world falls apart slowly and he has to grip the door frame to stop him from falling over and collapsing to the ground. That is when it happens, when the slight tickle in his throat grows until a simple clearing of the throat can't stop it and he opens his mouth to say something to the teary Bruce and instead he coughs loudly, only just covering his mouth.

Bruce stares at him for a long time and Howard stares back.

He knows what is happening to him.

He stands quickly and pushes back the tears that have yet to spill. He will not cry anymore in front of this man, he is Howard Stark, and Howard Stark does not cry, not even a little. He goes to grab at Bruce but instead stops himself, because if he has this he will not allow the young doctor to also catch it.

He will not sentence this man to death; after all he has done for them.

"Get Jarvis, and bring him to me, with a quill, ink and some parchment." Howard's orders gesturing his head towards the dark hallway with a sad smile. Bruce nods his head immediately and moves down the dark corridor, his feet echo off the walls and once he is far enough Howard turns to go back into the room.

Maria is turning around in the bed slowly, not enough to cause alarm, yet enough that seeing her like this causes his body to stir into action. He moves back to his bedside vigil and holds her hand, watching her pale and taught features shift uncomfortably, on the large bed, her longs hair sticks to her shoulders, neck and forehead with sweat.

He places the other hand on her belly and holds both his and her hands, he doesn't want to let her go, he never does, he loves her too much. He loves his family too much but now he has nothing, they are gone and soon he will leave them all as well. He knows it.

"Howard." Jarvis says as soon as he enters the room, and Howard smiles at the sound of his friends voice, filled with worry and concern, even though he has nothing to feel worry over, because Jarvis can never do any wrong.

"Jarvis, write a letter to my son, Steve." He says and when Jarvis moves forward towards him and Maria he looks up at the man with a frown. "Don't come too close, I will not risk you too getting ill." He says defensively and it shooks him to notice how close he is to his dying wife and how he now leans over her instead of sitting down on the wooden chair at her side.

Jarvis nods slightly his short grey hair looks dishevelled, as if he ran here. He probably did though; the man was always at his beck and call.

"What would you like it to say?" Jarvis asks setting his things down by the far desk, Bruce moves most of his scrolls and the pitcher of water out of the way. Howard is eternally grateful for these two men.

"Tell him we are fine and well" Jarvis pauses then and so does Bruce, both stare at him in concern, but Howard ignore them. He knows he should tell his son that they are dying, that there is no hope for them, because if Maria is too ill to survive, then he will not take the medicine that could save him, instead he will go with her. "And that we wish him well on his quest, and we hope he finds his brother."

He coughs then and suddenly his head aches, but he ignores it and when Bruce almost rushes over with the pitcher of water to offer him a drink he shakes it off and tells the man that he is fine.

Jarvis writes slowly but Howard knows he is watching him.

The three sit together in the room for a few more minutes until Jarvis has finished his writing and they are ordered out by the elder Stark with a quick command, Jarvis leaves first followed by Bruce who tries to convince the older man to take some medicine, even offering it for free. But he refuses any and all attempts and simply asks Bruce to leave them.

As soon as Bruce steps out of the room, Jarvis confronts him, not that he was expecting any different. "How long?" he asks softly as they traverse the corridor.

Bruce shrugs his shoulders feeling devoid of any and all emotion.

"Maria I would say two to three days, Howard maybe two weeks." He rubs the back of his neck and looks over at the other man with a frown. "Are you going to send the letter?" he asks and Jarvis shrugs.

"I have no choice." He says simply. "My master has ordered it, so I must comply."

"We will find them Jarvis, I know we will." He says after a while and Jarvis is abnormally quiet, his body sags and he shakes his head again this time with a little more force as if to wake himself up. "And I'm sure they are together and looking out for each other."

"I certainly hope so Bruce, I certainly hope so." He says again before ducking into his chambers, he doesn't leave until the news arrives a day later and when it does it takes a total of four days for Howard to finally collapse, a roll of parchment addressed to his youngest son clutched tightly in his hands.

It takes another three days for Jarvis to come down with a fever and cough that rattles his lungs and his bones.

Jarvis wonders if Tony ever knew how much his father really did love and admire him.


	15. I Can't

**Yeah this one is a little short and I'm not 100% happy with it, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**I was supposed to upload this on Friday, but my family decided to spend the day together so I pushed it back till Saturday and then work called me in, so I pushed it back to Sunday and then I got caught up watching Supernatural Season 7, which left me feeling really down and just depressed. **

**So sorry, I will update tomorrow night as well just to keep up with where I wanted to be by the end of this week.**

**Enjoy **

The early morning is muggy and mud clings to his feet as he walks through the camp, it is abnormally cold around him and he doesn't remember the West being this cold, it is usually sunny and bright. He knows this, because when he was a few years younger than he is now, he was with Steve, Rhodey and Bucky they had managed to steal a few horses and spent the day and most of the night trying to pick up bar maids here, well the three of them did, Steve was too busy trying to get them to go to bed alone so that they could get home early in the morning with no problems or women claiming they were knocked up by one of the lords.

His father would have been furious if that ever happened and he would know because it often did, but Tony was careful and did his best to pull out before the main event. He had even taken potions before a big night of drinking to stop him from impregnating a bar maid.

That still didn't mean that he probably didn't have some kid out there in the kingdom.

He walks past the holding pen of the Jotun who sits with a rope around his neck, tied to a pole, completely unfazed by the cold air; then again Tony has read that the land of Jotenheim is like a frozen waste land, for all he knows the Jotun could be dying of heat stroke in this cool air.

He walks past it ignoring the eyes and how they watch him bob and weave through the tents, until he comes face to face with the bakery, well face to fabric. The smell of fresh bread still lingers from the morning baking, which is strange because the sun set almost six hours ago, and in another two, the bakers will be up again and ready to continue to bake.

He smells the tent that surrounds the area before walking away, moving through a bunch of various buildings, charred remains of walls and doors surround the now vacated and plots that once housed the town's population. To say the battle that occurred earlier in the week here was uneventful would be a massive lie, one that Tony doesn't even think he could say.

And the Jotun that was found maybe three days ago, he would add that to the list of life changing major events along with the victory over this town. At one point in the battle Tony thought they were going to ask him to take up arms and fight against his own countrymen. But he would never do that, he would never betray his country, well by betray his country he means fight against them, making weapons is a different story, when he makes weapons for the Asgardians, he likes to think that Midgardians steal the weapons off the dead and use them against the invading forces.

The lie helps him sleep at night.

He slips past one of the tents that the servants use to keep the linen for the generals dry, when they are not using it that is. The smell of fresh linen makes him urge to be back home; he would often sit with Pepper and his mother and watch the servants clean the sheets, just to smell the lavender they would wash them in.

He would also dirty his sheets on purpose when he thought they didn't smell enough like lavender, he would smile impishly at them while they scoffed and shook their heads at his antics and quite a few times they would have talks of their own with Jarvis who would run the house.

Jarvis would then have talks to him about over working the staff; he would then tell Jarvis he was over working his mouth and the man would laugh at him before leaving him be.

He likes the old man and really can't wait to go home and see him again.

He slips past another tent and almost runs head first into a tree while avoiding a large rock the size of his bed back home. He sighs loudly and rubs his head in irritation and frustration before continuing on his way, silently cursing the giant boulder and the tree.

He rounds another corner and steps through into a small house where half the roof has been burnt off and one of the far walls looks as if it will collapse at any moment.

He sees her there, sitting with her back and head straight against the wall; it is enough to make him weak at the knees.

"Pep." He says softly and her head lifts immediately until she is looking right at him, except she isn't smiling, and he wants her to smile. He likes her smile, no wait scratch that he fucking loves her smile.

"Tony." She says slowly before turning back around, the bruises around her face have softened in the moonlight, but they are still there and he can still see them, they ruin her perfect complexion and dot around her skin like someone has spilt ink on her and it is only just fading away.

Tony never knew how possessive Loki could get, even if he only had suspicions over him and Pepper, it was still enough for him to order her to be hurt. He doesn't want to imagine what he would do to her now that he knows, but he has his suspicions as to what he has already done to her.

He has probably beaten her in places so he will not be able to see the bruises, like the sneaky arse he is.

He walks towards her quickly taking larger strides until he is beside her. He kneels quickly and holds her chin in his hand; she doesn't look at him though.

She avoids his eyes, and refuses to even acknowledge his presence now.

"Pep." He says when she removes her chin from his palm, he goes to hold onto her again but her hand flings up from her side and she holds his arm, he sees it then a mark on her hand, it circular like a brand, it's fresh, the blistering skin is red and white and seems to shine in the light.

It's the brand of a traitor, Tony has seen it on a few of the men in the camp, and the ones that hid from the onslaught, those men are the victims of boredom and experimentation now. But they won't be killed or sent home, because they need warriors, and this battle is depleting them of men. They can't afford to lose any to cowardice or Justice.

Those men will probably be imprisoned when they get back home, when the war is over. Just not yet though.

He stares at the burn for a while, he doesn't know if he is going to cry or hit something.

"What happened?" he asks finally looking back at her. He knows what happened to her, of course he does, he isn't stupid, he knows but he still wants her to say it, a reason for him to be mad. She still doesn't look at him. "Pep?" he asks again, he won't hold her chin or touch her, he knows she won't like it at the moment.

"I can't do this Tony." Is all she says and it's so soft that is could have been the wind which begins to howl. But he hears what she says he always hears what she says.

"Pep." He says slowly and he can feel the tears, feel them in his eyes, they sting and he doesn't want to listen to what she is going to say. He shakes his head when she looks at him in the eyes, and they are blank with no emotions, there is nothing there. "Y-you don't know what you are saying." He says and she smiles a little.

Suddenly he hates that smile.

"I do." Is all she says before looking up at the moon, it is a half crescent the same as when they were married, he remembers because he told Pepper it was as thin as Steve's smile, it was surprising how little his brother smiled. "We can't keep this up." She says again and Tony slumps immediately.

"No." he sobs, there are tears in his eyes and they are dripping down his face slowly, he risked his life skipping out of bed for this? "You" he says slightly louder. "Are not going to leave me, not like this." Her hand is on his face now holding him in place. "You are all I have right now." He says softly, he can see the tears in her eyes and the watery lines that run down his face.

"And you are all I have, but I can't keep this up. I can't have these feelings for you" She says again and suddenly he feels so selfish so goddamn selfish that he wants to kick himself. "And not be able to act on them."

He wants to lean in and kiss her then, to tell her that he also feels the same way, but he can't do it because it will hurt. She is being rational she knows that they will never be together not the way they were before everything went to hell.

And he should know that and he does know that in a way. He just doesn't want to acknowledge it. It is his fault that they are in this situation and he does feel a little guilty over this.

"I love you Tony." She says dropping her hands away from his face. "But I can't be in love with you." She shakes her head slowly and Tony knows this is the end of Tony and Pepper, he knows they will never be the same again, and that they will never be together that way again.

But he still doesn't want it to end.

"I will always love you." He says softly and she smiles at him before looking down at her hands, down at the burn with a frown before looking back up at him. He doesn't know if he is saying it to change her mind, or to change his, but he says it and it's the truth.

"As will I." she says and then she gets up slowly leaving him in the moonlight and the charred remains of some one's home, with the broken remains of his dreams.


	16. I Don't Know What To Say

**Hey guys thanks for reading and such so far, I really appreciate it.**

**I would have updated this a little earlier but things have been hectic and just well, gah.**

**Anyway hope you all enjoy. **

The morning for Tony hadn't started out as normal as it usually does, in fact the morning started off rather differently than he would have expected.

First off it is warmer, a hell of a lot warmer than usual, well by usual he means since he has been travelling with the arseholes that decided it would be fun to invade his homeland. The bed is warm as well which is doubly weird and empty which just adds more to the whole weird scale. He opens his eyes slowly and looks at the plump woman by the fire in the centre of the large tent.

Hlin hums a small tune and dances around putting things away and cleaning a few plates away from the night before, it had been raining and Loki had decided to invite all the generals into his tent to discuss which town they should take over next.

The last few had gone down quietly and Loki felt no need to completely eradicate all the men and enslave the women and children, instead he placed a few trusted soldiers in charge and the men who had stayed had reported back that all was well in the townships.

Tony and Loki both knew that the Midgardians would not attack a township where their own people were still living. Really the bastard was cleverer than Tony gave him credit for.

He sat up on the bed slowly the blankets pooling around his waist, he pulls up his nightshirt slightly and scratches his belly yawning loudly, he takes it that he is not required to work in the forges today seeing as no one was there to wake him up.

"Are you just going to sit there all day like an old man?" Hlin asks breaking Tony out of his thought process, he looks over at the elderly woman who is frowning down at him and tapping her foot against the ground in a repetitive manner, he finds it irritating.

"Wha?" he asks rubbing his hair, pulling the sheets off his legs. "Where is Loki?"

"That's Prince Loki, to you." Hlin reminds him raising her brow and smirking, he really likes Hlin, she reminds him of Jarvis. "His majesty has gone to interrogate the prisoner."

"Prisoner?" Tony asks stepping off the bed and spying a piece of cheese and bread on Loki's desk, no doubt for him seeing as how Hlin looks from him to the plate in a gesture.

"That Jotun scum." She says loudly. "I honestly don't know why they are here." She says shaking her head.

Tony picks up the plate and looks back up at Hlin with a slight frown. "And why are you Asgardians here?" he asks and Hlin laughs loudly and slaps her knee, she literally lifts her leg and slaps her goddamn knee.

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you." She laughs walking towards him and pulling his cheeks in an affectionate manner before turning around and collecting the rest of the plates that lay around. Tony would help her clean the mess up but honestly he doesn't want to he would much rather sit in the bed and eat his food, then maybe sneak over to the forge later and do some sketches.

So far he needs the bottom half of the armour and the helmet the work on his upper body strength and maybe, just maybe he will be able to provide enough of a distraction that Obadiah and Pepper will be able to escape without too much difficulty.

Yeah he and Pepper haven't spoken in a little less than a week after their fight, but that doesn't mean he won't help her get out of here, he still loves her, even if she will no longer admit her love to him.

"When did he leave?" he asks swallowing the now cold bread, it is light and fluffy and in his opinion the best type of bread, he briefly wonders if the foot soldiers get the same type of bread.

Hlin dumps a few of the metal plates into a basket and looks up at him with a loud sigh as she rubs her forehead. "Little under an hour ago." She replies and Tony shrugs his shoulders and continues to eat his meal.

"You wouldn't want to help an old lady would you?" she asks and Tony scoffs.

"I've seen you pull Loki out of bed; I think you can handle the basket."

"Oh you are a cheeky one, I had a nephew like you once, he married a farmer's daughter. Shame she was not the best looking woman I have ever seen either." She says and Tony laughs with her loudly.

"Magni!" Tony calls after a few minutes of choked laughter, it doesn't take long for his friendly giant to walk into the tent ducking a little as he enters. He looks up at Tony with a frown. "Help Hlin carry those would ya."

Magni looks over at the basket and frowns. Before looking over at Tony. "Do not leave this tent." He orders and Tony nods his head and salutes the man as he leaves the tent.

Hlin shakes her head at the giant man and looks back over at Tony and he knows while she won't actually thank him the look in her eyes does just as much, Tony smiles back pieces of bread stuck between his teeth as she leaves the tent.

It is quiet and feels nice as he continues to eat his meal, normally he hates the sound of silence but at the moment it feels good, relaxing even and he takes that moment to take a deep breath and lay back with his head against the pillow. His eyes close slowly and he smiles contently.

He sighs loudly and pulls the blankets up towards him; maybe he will just spend a lazy day in bed. It does seem like a great idea at the moment. He yawns loudly and stretches his back trying to get into a comfortable position.

Unfortunately Hlin decided to return and make as much noise as she can upon entering the tent. He groans loudly and he expects the sound of Hlin scolding him for going back to sleep except she doesn't. No instead he feels a weight on his legs pinning him to the bed.

He opens his eyes quickly and looks up towards the weight, and there it is. It's not Hlin, no it's Loki, his cheeks are red and his eyes are puffy, his hands are fisted into the furs beside Tony's shoulders and before the younger man can do anything Loki is on him, his lips crashing onto his and biting, rough and hard.

Tony fumbles for a moment, he will not admit that it feels nice to kiss someone and if he did he would blame his playboy nature, it had been an awfully long time since he had gotten laid, Loki had much rather the close cuddling at night and the occasional peck on his cheek when Loki thought he was asleep.

Loki pulls back slowly his face still inches away from Tony's who is abnormally silent and watching the man who hovers over him. Tony can see the wide blown pupils and he won't deny that it does turn him on a little, his breathing becomes shallow and he doesn't know what is happening to him.

He needs to hate the guy not fall into his bed.

"Take me." Loki orders before attacking Tony's neck with his teeth, and Tony has to restrain himself from ripping off the Princes clothes. His arms hold onto Loki's upper arms, and he doesn't know if he is pushing him away or pulling him closer but either way when Loki's lips land on his he moans and kisses back with just as much force.

Maybe more.

The Princes his swivel over his and Tony growls in the man's mouth. It feels so good, and he wants to feel good, no he needs to feel good to release his tension and there is no better way than fucking someone. His hips thrust upwards and Loki moans sitting up slightly grabbing Tony by the hair and pushing his head back so that he has better access to his neck, Tony obliges and moans at every knick and lick the man gives him.

"L-Loki." Tony says softly because he knows this has to stop even if his body is screaming out for more, for somewhere he can sheath his manhood into something. Anything. But his brain is screaming at him and he knows. "Loki s-stop ahh!" he calls out at a particular hard bite on his ear.

"But you don't want me too." He says softly and there is a shiver down Tony's spine because the man is right, he doesn't want him to, he thrusts up with enough force that Loki literally bounces and they both moan at the contact.

No, bad Tony. Stop.

No sexy time.

But he wants sexy time.

He growls again as Loki continues to rub off against him, he strains tightly in his pants and it hurts, but his hands grip Loki's upper arms with enough force that Loki looks at him in surprise.

"No, stop." He sighs loudly and it partly turns into a loud moan. "Stop. W-we need to talk." He says again and he is sure that Loki will just pull down his pants and impale himself on Tony from the look of pure annoyance and frustration Loki gives him.

"Fine." He says instead and Tony almost has a heart attack because did Prince Loki Odinson actually listen to him, the man gets up off the man and sits down adjusting himself into a more comfortable position and Tony does the same as he sits up and looks at the man.

They both stare at each other, trying to regulate their breathing , Tony just knows he is going to have marks all along his neck, he knows that for a fact.

"Where did that come from?" he mutters to himself before looking back up at the Prince. "What happened?" he asks him and Loki stares at him for a little while longer.

"I was interrogating my prisoner." He replies evenly and Tony nods his head. "Do you think me a monster?" he asks softly looking at Tony with a blank face.

"I don't want to answer that." Tony replies and Loki nods his head slightly. It's true he doesn't want to answer that because he has no idea what Loki will do to him if he actually answers that question honestly.

"You fear me," he says softly. "Don't you?"

And Tony doesn't know what to say to that, he doesn't know how to respond, because he doesn't really know the answer to that.

"I don't want you to fear me." He whispers, his eyes on Tony's lips, which are still bruised from their last bout of kissing and whoa, when was he sitting that close.

"What did the Jotun say?" Tony asks and Loki frowns before sitting back slightly and sighing. "You don-"

"I am not of Asgard." Loki interrupts sighing.

Okay and what the fuck?

"What?" Tony asks and Loki frowns and sighs loudly.

But Loki just gives him another long suffering look and Tony's finger itch to reach out to him, not to pull him back into an embrace but rather to comfort the man, because in his short life he has never seen a man that has ever looked this run down and well depressed.

"I-" And that is all he says before he is up off his knees and walking towards the tent doors. Tony wants to call out and he can't explain his reasoning behind it, perhaps it is because he doesn't want the young Prince to go off and start a new war within the camp which may or may involve Tony hanging from a local church by his intestines.

Loki turns suddenly and looks back at Tony who is kneeling on the bed surrounded by pieces of cheese and bread, shrapnel from the surprise attack of affection. "Stay here." He says softly, but it doesn't take an idiot to know what the implications of him moving are.

He gulps slightly and nods his head watching the man. Loki stares back and looks as if he is about to turn around and clamp his hand on his wrist and drag him with him, but instead he just walks away the flaps of the tent silently fluttering along with the cold wind.

"What just happened?" he asks himself turning around on the bed inspecting the food scraps around him.


	17. I Don't Know What To Think

**Hey guy's thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it.**

**Hope you all enjoy.**

It's warm, really warm, so warm that Tony has taken it upon himself to tear the sleeves off one of his tunics. Of course it didn't work as well as he hoped, half the fabric had been frayed and when Hlin came in to clean the furs on the bed, she had tutted loudly and rolled her eyes.

"Honestly," she had said practically ripping the tunic out of his hands. "I would expect better from Thor."

Tony has never met Thor before, but he figures that the eldest Odinson Prince would have been quite the handful when growing up, and from the way the servant mutters whilst sewing half the tunic back together again, he has a funny feeling that the Prince still is a handful.

He almost wants to meet the Prince for a moment, but he gets the feeling he may lay a punch on him and end up getting executed in front of half the kingdom of Asgard.

Magni is walks beside him, the sun beating off the man's dark skin and hitting Tony almost as if the man was made of metal, he watches the man slightly then schematics for what he wants his suit of armour to look like.

He briefly wonders if maybe Loki or Doom have some kind of potion that can create fire, or perhaps a spell that could work, but he doesn't have enough time to do that magic voodoo thing that the Prince does every month at the crack of dawn, and yes Tony must accompany the man to and from their little mystical created alter in the middle of nowhere, and he certainly hasn't got the balls to not only escape Magni's watchful eyes but to also sneak into the Priests tent and go snooping around, he doesn't think the man would take too kindly to that.

And he fears the masked man will end up decapitating him for even looking at the tent.

They walk along the main walkway together, in Tony's arms a bunch of scrolls that Magni had offered to carry to the forge for him, but Tony wouldn't have it. No one was going to try and take his scrolls off him, they were his and if the wrong eyes saw them then he was pretty sure he would be killed.

He looks past a sloping tent and he sees it there, the pen where the Jotun now sits tied to a large wooden pole. Tony would feel sorry for the guy but when a man tries to kill you, it makes it hard to feel pity for them.

Besides Jotun's are scary.

Yes, he can say he is scared and still be a man about it, he gets the feeling that half the people in the camp feel the same way as him.

He immediately thinks of the Prince whom he had felt pity for, he knows he shouldn't, he really does, but he feels sorry for the man, he was clearly really shaken up over whatever the prisoner had told him.

Maybe he has a chemical imbalance in his brain that makes him feel pity for the man who is making his life a living hell.

Yeah it's probably that.

He will call it Stark Syndrome and it will be classified as 'pitying a dick that destroys your life in the matter of minutes for months on end, over and over again.'

He looks back up at his guard and sometimes friend with a frown. "Where did Loki go?" he asks carefully because once again the Prince was not in bed when he had awoken and he had come into bed late at night, he would even say it was early morning when he felt the cold leg his the back of his knee.

Magni doesn't even look at Tony and instead seems to be inspecting a man who is suspiciously standing around one of the tents, Tony follows his gaze and he can't help but feel he knows the man; he is old and has uneven stubble around his chin that is almost white, with a brown leather cap on his head.

He knows the man, why does he know the man.

"His Majesty left early," Magni says in his deep rumble tearing his eyes off the suspicious looking man who is staring back at Tony now. "To visit Priest Doom."

Tony nods his head slowly still staring at the man, seriously where had he seen the guy before, it's really bugging him.

The scrolls in his hands jostle a little as steps over a rock and it takes all of his dexterity to not drop a single scroll. Magni's hand comes down to help him in case he drops one, but Tony doesn't, he looks back up at his friend and smiles.

"Thanks Mags."

Magni laughs loudly and when Tony stands he claps him on the back and Tony almost loses the scrolls again, he can't afford to lose one of them.

"It is no problem, my friend." Tony winces slightly, he hates it when Magni says that, because he knows that if he has to he will kill the man in order to escape, he has no choice it will be kill or be killed, he only hopes the man will stay out of his way when push comes to shove.

They continue walking and Tony can't help but notice that the strange man is following them, and if he notices the man following them, then there is absolute no doubt that Magni also notices, his shoulders stiffen almost suddenly.

Tony frowns, clearly this strange man either wants to talk to Tony alone or he wants to kill him, he winces slightly at the thought, but he doesn't think that short little old man will be much of a threat to him, well unless the man had a knife.

He gulps a little loudly and Magni looks down at him in concern.

Tony continues to walk and ignores the giant man's concern, looking towards the forge that is only a few steps in front of him. Then he cracks, the interest and intrigue is running rampant in his mind, almost as if he has finally exploded after the past few days and the strange happenings.

"Mags." He says suddenly pausing in his footsteps, he can hear the man following them stop as well, either that or he is paranoid, either option is viable. Magni pauses a little in front of him and turns, opening his mouth about to reply but Tony, who never misses an opportunity to talk, interrupts. "Can you drop these off at the Forge for me." He says quickly trying not to think too much about what he is saying because then he will regret it.

He trusts Magni not to read them anyway, and if he doesn't say anything then he is pretty sure the man will not read them, he just has to watch what he says and not be so strung up about handing them to the man.

Magni looks up at him in confusion and goes to what Tony knows is an objection but he quickly silences the man again. "I want to see the Jotun." Okay now Magni looks a little confused, Tony internally cringes, he remembers learning of the Asgardians and their war like ways, what was it? Oh. He's got it. "See the man I put in chains." He shrugs his shoulders and tries to hide his smile. He has the Asgardian giant right where he wants him. "Rub my victory over him in his face."

Magni smiles then and chuckles clapping Tony on the shoulder, and wow this guy is strong. "Why of course, my friend." He laughs taking the scrolls out of Tony's hand that has to remind himself not to stiffen. "I will not stop you from revelling in your victory."

Tony smiles back at the man, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks Mags." He says softly, "Uh, I'll meet you over there?" he questions a little louder and Magni smiles widely and nods his head, Tony turns before Magni can say anything and ignores the loud rumble that could have only come from him.

He is pretty sure that both he and Magni have subconsciously set up some sort of trap for the strange man that keeps following them. They both know that the man will not attack especially in a campsite filled to the brim with witnesses and soldiers that will not let their new prized blacksmith get killed, and if they did they would probably all be subjected to Prince Loki's fury.

Tony has been subjected to that before, many times a long time ago, and it's something you can never forget.

He walks quickly and swiftly because whilst the strange man is interesting him, he wants to see the Jotun, before he will be put to death or something because then he will not get his answers, and he is pretty sure Loki will not tell him what the Jotun had said.

He wants to know what he meant that he was 'not of Asgard.' Because he had to be, the man was a goddamn Prince. He had royal blood and it was unheard of for Royalty to even consider taking another child and raising them as a royal. Royals were like gods in both Midgard and Asgard.

It doesn't take him long to reach the prison cell. The walls are large and huge wooden palisade walls with a slight gap in between each wooden slate, some of which were walls ripped off, from poor farmers houses during the invasion, others were simply trees that had been cut down for firewood and the purpose of building this cell like structure, which used to hold the lord of the town, well use to, when the Jotun was found Loki didn't need the Lord and he was executed to make way for the new prisoner.

Tony had heard rumours that this man will be killed in just two days' time, before they were to move further West, just a little further from his home which was North East from this place, right along the cliff side by the sea, Tony use to wake up to the smell of salt water and a cool breeze.

It doesn't take much for him to convince the guards to let him in to question the man alone, a lot of people owe him favours for fixing their armour. He is a literal celebrity around here, well to his face anyway, to his back they all probably mock him and despise him, he is an enemy and sleeping with another man.

Well more sleep recently than anything in that department.

The Jotun sits upright his eyes shut loosely; he smiles as soon as Tony enters the open cell.

"Anthony Stark, son of Howard." The man says in a deep voice, so deep it could put Magni to shame. "The man who brought me to my knees." He says again chuckling, then his eyes open, and they look almost red, perhaps he really did do a number on his head, probably breaking a few blood vessels. "From what I have heard, you know a lot about being on your knees."

Tony smiles tightly at the man and moves forward, he can see the discomfort on the man, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. It's the heat.

"You look a bit warm there, popsicle." He says squatting down beside the man, who watches Tony from the corner of his eyes. "Bet you could do with a drink." He pats the man on the shoulder with the back of his hand causing the Jotun to growl. "Tell you what, you tell me what I want to know and I will get you that drink. Sound good?"

The Jotun smiles then. "Why should I tell you anything." He turns to the front then and closes his eyes. "When I am to die soon."

"Because, I want these men to suffer just as much as you do." The Jotun opens his eyes with a wide smirk.

"I can see why the Prince is so enamoured with you Stark." The Jotun says and before Tony can question him on it the Jotun interrupts him. "What is it that interests you Stark? Perhaps why the Prince is so… upset at the moment?"

Tony stands then and continues to stare at him. "What did you tell him?"

The Jotun smiles then and straightens up. "The truth."

"What is this 'Truth'?"

"Who he really is."

Tony was getting annoyed now, really annoyed. He grits his teeth and glares at the Jotun who looks like he is having way too much fun. "And who might that be."

"The son of Laufey."

And Tony pauses then. Laufey, where has he heard that name before, he crosses his arms over his chest and wishes Steve or Bruce were here, they would know if he didn't Steve more than Bruce, that guy was a stickler for knowing people.

"King of Jotenheim."

And now Tony doesn't know what to think. He turns slowly to leave the cell not at all worried that Magni will come here in search of him, because he is a little shocked at the moment, he steps out of the gate and ignores the guards who try and talk to him about the visit with the brush of his hands.

He wants to go back to the tent, to go back to the tent and sleep; he has been sleeping next to a person his father had warned against his whole life.

'Jotun's are people one should never associate with.' He would say whenever Tony would ask about the days when his father would fight against these men. 'They are liars and thieves and should never be trusted.'

His breathing become rushed again and his head goes light, he wants to sleep to go to the tent and sleep, but then Loki will be there, a Jotun and he can't deal with that. He doesn't want to deal with a Jotun near him.

But he already has dealt with one.

For the months he has been here with a Jotun.

Someone grips his shoulders and Tony opens his eyes widely, when had he closed them, and it takes him a moment to see the man before him, his grey stubble and leather cap on his short little head.

"Anthony Stark." The man said in a soft and hurried voice, Tony would say that it sounded worry. "I have news from your Parents."

And Tony really wishes he had gone straight to the forge.


	18. I Don't Know What To Feel

**So sorry about the long break, lots of things have been happening and I have been lazy. **

**Hope you all enjoy**

His head is hazy, he doesn't know where he is, and he doesn't care, why would he care, why should he? Maybe he should just lay down and let the earth swallow him whole, then maybe he wouldn't feel so, so empty and broken and just feel like shit.

He stumbles aimlessly through the camp, no one bothers him, or stops him. Well he doesn't think anyone has done that because he is not concerned about that, wouldn't he know if someone tried to stop him?

At the moment he doesn't know if he would or wouldn't.

He kicks his foot on a stone, or is it a body; there is always a body around him. Maybe he should just befriend death. A laugh escapes his throat that sounds so hysterical that Tony would even throw himself into a cell to pass his life alone for the rest of eternity.

A hand grips him tightly and he hears the sound of murmuring, but he pays little attention to it, even when they begin leading him somewhere. Where he has no idea, but he doesn't care, or does he, he doesn't know but his feet move slowly and almost quickly over the span of a few seconds, or is it hours? He doesn't know again.

He doesn't care either.

The murmuring grows louder and louder until suddenly there is no longer white noise, that must have been the camp life around him and the warmth that must have been the sun, disappears completely until his skin takes a blueish tinge, he winces at the feeling and for a moment he has convinced himself that he is a Jotun he is on the verge of a panic attack until he realises what the blue tinge could be, after all it is too light to be the painted skin of a Jotun.

He is in the forge.

There is warmth on his back. He must be seated in front of the flames, an anvil to his right and a bucket of water to his left and in front of him sits Obie, who doesn't look concerned, he once again doesn't know if he should be worried or not.

He doesn't know anything at the moment.

"They're gone." He mutters slowly and Obie is watching him with a frown now, he needs to tell someone else.

"So you said." He chuckles a little but it holds little mirth and more annoyance and frustration, he knows he should be worried, because something really doesn't seem right. "You have been muttering that for a while Tony."

Yep something is not right, this is not good. He sits up slightly. "What time is it?" he asks and he is worried now, Magni. Magni needs to be here, Magni should be here. He needs Magni, Magni needs to look after him, and he doesn't want Magni to get in trouble.

"A little after lunch." Tony nods slowly and goes to stand, but his head feels way to light and Obadiah has his hand on his arm and is holding him down, he isn't sure if this is good or bad, but it doesn't feel good.

Then again he doesn't feel much right now.

His breathing quickens and he tries to push it down, it sounds abnormal. He knows if he doesn't stop it soon it will develop into a panic attack and then he will begin to sob and look completely foolish.

"Now Tony," Obadiah says slowly drawing his attention to the man. "You need to tell me, who is gone?"

He shakes his head at the man, because he doesn't want to repeat it, he doesn't because then it will be real, it will be too real and he can't deal with real right now.

He needs his brother Steve, he needs to be with Steve, Steve will know what to do, he needs to get out and find Steve. They need to make arrangements to visit the place of his ancestors, to the Stark family grounds; he needs to go there with Steve to finish the rituals. She would have liked that.

"I need Steve." He mutters and Obie raises a brow at him, right he doesn't know who Steve is.

"Is Steve gone?" Obie asks and Tony shakes his head, because no, Steve can't be gone, he won't allow Steve to be gone, he won't even consider it. He needs his brother, he wants his brother, with his shy smile and caring attitude, the complete opposite to Tony. That's why he needs him he levels him out.

"Tony." He says again slowly, enunciating. Maybe he does care, yeah Obie won't hurt him. It's Obie, his friend, his mentor. He was as close to a fa- no. No. He will not say that word. "I need you to tell me, 'who is gone'?"

Does Obie need to know?

Does he have to tell him what's wrong?

He doesn't need to.

He could go find Pepper.

Pepper will help him, she will hold him.

Will she?

Surly she will.

He hopes she will.

He forces his eyes shut, because he will not cry. Starks do not cry, not now not ever what would his fath-. No. Bad word, bad word, don't use that word.

His eyes sting, he pushes his hands to his eyes in a fist to stop him from shedding a single tear. Tears are bad, he will not embarrass the Stark name as much as he has already.

God where was Steve?

"Tony!" Obie growls pulling Tony's fists away, he scratches the top of his eye a little, but not enough to cause it to bleed, doesn't mean it doesn't sting but. "Tell me what is wrong."

He can see the old man again and he remembers where he had seen him before, he was a friend of Jarvis, the head of house, he was a fisherman, daft and stupid but as sly as anyone could be, he had often stolen ale and given it to the young Tony when no one else would.

Tony hopes he got away from this hell hole without too much trouble.

"My mo-" he stops and sighs loudly shaking his head dispelling any thoughts and images. Relax Tony, relax. Keep your head, don't lose it and don't cry. Men do not cry. "My mother and father are, are" and he doesn't know how to say it, how to go about it. "Dead." He says slowly and his chest gives in and a loud sob escapes his lips.

Obadiah sits back with a shocked and affronted expression. "W-when? How?"

Tony looks down at his hands, he doesn't say anything for a moment, and he just stares. "A month ago, I don't know, the flu maybe, he didn't say."

The man had given him little information and he doesn't know if he wants more information or less.

But Tony knows that the flu would have just been a factor. He shuts his eyes and tries not to think about it, he had seen it a lot, a man he had trained with when he was younger lost half of his family when his little sister went missing in the woods, half of them had been wiped out by simple things that medicine was available for, but their bodies couldn't cope under the strain of illness and the loss of a family member.

It just added to the guilt and anger he felt at himself.

Who would have thought that one stupid mistake could have resulted in all this, his mother would have proclaimed it to be the will of god, Tony knows different now though.

God would never kill one of his angels.

"I'm sorry Tony." There is the scraping of a chair, the one Obie was sitting on, but Tony pays no attention to it, why would he. The guy can walk around his forge whenever he wants, it's his place after all.

Tony shakes his head and goes to stand up.

Obie shoots him a look.

"I should probably find Magni," he explains running a hand through his hair, it's comforting and relaxes him more than it probably should at the moment, his mother use to do it when he was ill, she would sit in his room for hours on end and hum soft tunes to him while running her fingers through his short hair. "He is probably looking for me."

At that moment something fires up inside his mentor and friend. "No, wait here." He says loudly and almost leading Tony back to his seat in front of the fire. "Magni, will probably come straight here when he can't find you."

And he has a point.

He sits down slowly and looks up to his friend who pours him a chalice of wine, he hands it to Tony slowly. "Tell me more about your family." Obie says and Tony looks down at his cup then and back towards the man with a blank face. "It will make you feel better."

Tony shrugs his shoulders and looks into the fire behind him, he has to turn a little, but at the moment he can't look at anyone, he doesn't want to see their pity, and secretly if he cries, then no one will see it.

"My mother and father," he starts softly, carefully even. "Would come into my room, on my birthday every year." He says with a little smile, it's small as he tries to remember, the flames dance along the coal warm enough to generate heat but not enough to meld any kind of metal. "And ask me if there was anything special on that they should know about," he laughs a little at the memories. "And every year I would laugh and tell them what day it was, they would act shocked and tell me they got me nothing." He laughs a little. "And every year I would believe them, well up until my twelfth birth year." He adds as an afterthought. "They would tell no one to say anything to me all day, and it made me so angry, thinking that everyone forgot." He can remember Steve smiling softly when no one was looking and winking at him, telling him that he remembered. But he keeps that to himself, it's something no one else needs to know about him and his brother. "And finally when they would call me in for dinner, they would all be sitting there in the dining hall with a minstrel playing." He smiles a little and shakes his head. "They had spent a month planning a feast for me every year."

He goes quiet then and frowns at the flames. "It was pretty much the only time my father would acknowledge me." And the bitterness burns, it hurts so much, but it shouldn't hurt him, it really shouldn't. But it does. "I miss him, well missed." Obie is quiet now, and he almost wants to spin around to see the man's face but he stops himself from doing so, he doesn't want to look at any one, because then he may cry. "I never" he tries to say but he can feel a pit forming in his stomach, a pain in his chest. "I never said goodbye." He ends and closes his eyes. "I never told them I loved them."

There is a loud sound in the back of his mind and suddenly he feels something after being so empty, so empty for so long, well not really that long more like three hours but it is still long. It's sharp and if he was intoxicated and a little less sound of mind he would say it was love, like a warm feeling in his chest.

Only he is sound of mind and not drunk and that warm feeling in his chest is a poker from the fire jabbing him in the chest.

He gasps for air and opens his eyes and comes face to face with a bald man with a grey beard, he frowns slightly because who the fu- Oh it's Obie. Only why is he so close? And why is Tony feeling a lot of pain, like too much pain.

"You should not have come with me." He says and it's quiet for a moment, he wants to say something back to the man but he can't, he just can't comprehend what is happening or what just happened and this is the most confusing thing that has ever happened to him.

Then there is a loud shout and cries, he drops from Obadiah's hands and lands on the ground with a thud that causes him more pain and he knows he is crying, he has to be crying right now, he is dying.

He knows he is dying.

He doesn't want to die.

He never even sailed the world.

Something drops beside his head and he notices that it is half of the table that stood beside the bucket of water, which now floods his body, tiny metal fragments hit him, but he pays no attention or mind to it and instead he focuses on the sounds around him.

Who the fuck is screaming?

And why do they sound like a horse?

Do people really sound like that?

Is he the one screaming?

A bowl is dropped on his head and he cries out a little, well he thinks he does, there is a lot of blood in his throat, is there any sound coming out? Or is he silently dying on the floor of the forge.

Someone is saying something a little louder, a lot louder, he briefly wonders if it is his mother, maybe she is talking to him on the other side, calling him, but the voice sounds like a man and he is very confused, unless it's his dad.

Yes his father is calling him, finally realising how much Tony really means to him and how important he is, he thinks he may be smiling, but once again he can't tell, he feels numb and it's hard to think of this as either good or bad.

He will take it as a good feeling right now.

He is slipping now, his fingers no longer curling to the side of the living, on longer clinging to the edge of life, and he is fine with that, because he can see his parents and their smiling at him, calling him towards them with wide smiles.

His father's hands wrapped tightly around his mother's shoulders pulling her beside him and their waving, so happy and serene and totally not like how they should be, but they are happy and smiling and his father looks like he wants to hug him, to bring him close and embrace his only birth son.

It makes him happy, and the hollow feeling is warm now. This time he knows it is love.

Finally he lets go of that edge and is ready to fall towards them, but something grabs him and jolts him with a force that he can't explain and his eyes have shot open. He can't see them anymore, he can't see his parents and he wants to see them, he needs to.

He needs to tell them he loves them, he needs to feel his mother's warm embrace and see his father's smile.

He needs it like air now.

Instead he sees bright green eyes.

He doesn't know how he should feel.


	19. I Don't Know What To Do

**First off Thank you everyone for reviewing/favouriting/following I really love it and it makes me soo happy and just, gah.**

**Anyway sorry for the lateness of this and that I haven't replied to reviews, I have been busy with work and uni and honestly just been lazy.**

**Anyway hope you enjoy.**

'Okay,' he thinks taking a long deep calming breath. 'Just relax, you are fine and the man beside you is not going to decapitate you and sell your brain to the highest bidder.' He thinks slowly blinking again at the man who is standing beside the desk in Loki's tent.

He has no idea how the flying fuck he got here, but he is here. And why the fuck, is there a bandage across his chest attached to a small piece of metal on the table, which is attached to a, well what could only be described as baby vomit coloured vial, on the table next to him.

Slowly he looks back up at the man who is looking over a scroll of paper in what may be a frown, well he thinks it's a frown because those shoulders are frowny shoulders.

And how can someone have frowny shoulders? You ask, they just can that's how.

He blinks again and goes to pull at the string, only it's not string but some other kind of substance, perhaps its organic. His fingers pull at it again and yeah it's some kind of organic material.

"I would stop if I were you." The man says except he has turned around and is now facing Tony with a concerned expression, okay so if the guy were going to decapitate you, he would not have gone to this much trouble to keep you alive.

"Who are you? Where am I? And most importantly what happened?" he asks with a frown his voice croaky from disuse, because seriously what happened, he doesn't remember, well apart from going to the forge and-Oh, now he remembers.

He scowls slightly and tries not to feel so pathetic and useless, and well betrayed.

He closes his eyes again and makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat that hurts his chest and makes his eyes flutter slightly. He quickly opens them and the smaller man, who honestly looks thinner than Loki and just as old as Ob- well as most people in the camp and he is shorter than Tony, which does make him feel a little happier.

See there are men who are shorter than him.

Take that society.

And Clint, who is a teeny bit taller than him, and certainly won't let him forget it.

The man makes a weird face that looks in between a smile and a frown. "You can call me Yinsin. And-"

"Yinsin?" Tony interrupts, the word tastes funny on his tongue and exotic, he had never heard of anyone from Midgard with that name. "Where are you from?" he asks because why the hell not, he is curious about this man who he observes, is looking out for him.

The man smiles lightly and rubs his hands over a cloth from his belt; Tony guesses the man must have been wealthy. "East from here, far east in a town called Gulmira."

"Never heard of it." Tony mutters rubbing his forehead, he wants the man to continue with his talking because then he will stop thinking about everything that has happened and fucked up in his life.

"It was only a small town," he looks down at his feet before throwing the cloth towards the desk, right beside the parchment he had previously been watching. "Mostly used for wheat harvesting and cattle." He replies with a soft smirk looking back up at Tony.

"Where you a farmer?" he asks carefully and he prays the man wasn't because right now he is a little apprehensive. A man who had spent his life raising and rearing cattle, now healing Tony.

Yeah not a good thought.

"I was the town healer." He moves towards Tony with a smile that seems a little more genuine than the past few. "You don't remember me?" he asks slightly and Tony frowns in thought. The man laughs a little and shakes his head. "I suppose you were young" he moves towards a small jug on the desk and pours a glass before moving towards Tony with it out stretched, he takes it immediately and drinks it all, he never realised how thirsty he was. "And dare I say it a little drunk."

Tony laughs at that because yes that sounds just like him. There is a burning feeling in his chest and he winces slightly from the pain, the man does nothing and simply watches him his face blank, like an empty scroll.

"So," he says lightly trying not to wince at the feelings inside of him. It hurts and it feels like his lungs are burning but he doesn't want to show it, because he doesn't know what they are going to do. "What's with the creepy set up I have here?" he asks his hand reaching out towards the makeshift potion set beside him.

Yinsen smiles tightly and picks up a cloth, dumping it in water. He looks back up at Tony then and moves forward, Tony doesn't know if he should like what's going to come out of the man's mouth.

"A lot of people have been worried about you." The man says again placing the cloth on his forehead his other hand gripping the cup and taking it away from him.

He frowns slightly at the man. "Are you a healer here as well?"

"They thought you were dead, many men have sent you offerings, hoping you get well."

"What kind of healer are you." Tony mutters, he doubts the other man will hear him, but the man turns suddenly and looks down at Tony with a smile.

"The best kind." Yep it's official; move over Bruce, Tony has a new healer friend. Yinsin turns then and picks up a scroll before walking towards the bed with a soft smile, but it doesn't look like a good smile, it looks completely different and sympathetic.

He pulls up a chair and sits down beside Tony, taking a slight moment to look down at the set up beside him. "I will not lie to you Stark." He says softly placing the scroll on the bed, not meeting Tony's eyes. He doesn't like it.

"Then don't lie to me." He replies, and he feels numb, this doesn't sound good, it almost sounds like a breakup, he doesn't like break ups, well that's a lie, he likes breaking up with people but not people breaking up with him.

Especially Pepper. There is a cool metallic taste in his mouth and he shuts his eyes quickly. He has lost so much within a week. He has lost everything.

Yinsen smiles again, but it looks more pained then genuine.

"I believe you have small fragments of metal trapped in your chest." He rubs his forehead and Tony almost already knows what he is going to say because if it is true and he does have metal in his chest then he is already lucky that he isn't dead. And the amount of pain he is already experiencing, means he doesn't have long.

"How long?" he asks slowly.

"A week at the most." He says slower, carefully.

"Is he-is Obadiah dead?" he sits up a little and winces at the feeling, how long has he been out for, what has happened since he was well, skewered with a flaming piece of metal. Really there is no other way of saying it, because he was skewered with a piece of metal and sure it wasn't 'flaming' but it must have been pretty hot from sitting in the coal.

"Unless he is walking around without a head." Yinsen laughs but it is still forced, Tony stares at him for a while with a raised brow. "His majesty does not take kindly to those who touch his things." And Tony frowns slightly.

"Loki found me." He states and Yinsen looks a little miffed, people usually do look confused or worried even when Tony uses the Princes name with such a carefree attitude, but hey the guy has had the man's dick in his mouth so he really thinks formalities are a little over the top.

"Yes, the Prince was the first on the scene." He mutters rubbing his head with his hands. He stands again and looks over at the entrance. "I must go and inform the guards you have awoken," he looks back at Tony. "His majesty ordered that once you awaken he is to be informed."

Tony frowns slightly, why not, bring the man here, let him see what taking him has done. Let him revel in what he has done to Tony's life, which he has completely destroyed and has fucked him over in more ways than one.

Yinsen's head disappears through the tent flaps and Tony can vaguely hear him calling to the men, before he pops back and looks at Tony again, softer and sympathetic. "I will take my leave before his majesty arrives." He says slowly picking up a scroll.

Tony wonders what happened to his scrolls and there is a brief moment of panic that disappears, he doesn't care if they have found them, in fact let them find them. Let them look at the scrolls, then let them kill him.

Chop of his head and put it on a spike.

He is dying anyway.

And even if he weren't, he wouldn't care anyway, he has nothing left.

He looks back up at the man and frowns. "Uh Yinsen?" he asks, the man looks at him almost immediately as if he will do anything for his new ward. "Did a woman come to see me. She has red hair a little shorter than me, and would have probably scolded me while I slept for doing something stupid?"

Yinsen frowns a little and answers quickly. "No one was to see you, only myself and the Prince."

With that the man is gone and Tony feels lonely. He closes his eyes again and rests his head against the pillow, the pain in his chest easing slightly.

He shuts his brain down slowly, not wanting to think, to remember to do anything because then he will feel that empty pit and he doesn't want to feel that pit.

He takes a long and deep breath that burns him and makes him feel weaker than it should.

"They told me I should have left you alone more often." Tony opens his eyes wide and stares at the man before him. Loki is leaning along a support beam staring back at Tony, only he looks pale and more otherworldly than ever before. "And when I do, look what happens."

He chuckles to himself, but Tony doesn't move he just continues to stare at the man. "You saved me." He looks down at the vials beside him and back at Loki. "And still are."

Loki frowns slightly and moves forward more until he is perched beside Tony's hip. "Magic." He says simply playing with the furs above Tony's body. "Magic is saving you."

And for a moment Tony has to remind himself that Loki is a Jotun, a cruel horrid race of people. And he should not feel thankful for saving him. "Thank you." He says slowly and he can feel the tears moving around his eyes. "For saving me." He doesn't have the energy to be mad at the man.

He wants his mother to be happy and proud of him for letting this slide, she always had a kind soul. He wants to see her smile at him genuinely when he meets her in the afterlife.

"I had no choice." He says so quietly that Tony almost misses it, almost that is.

"You could have left me." He says, he isn't looking at Loki, he doesn't want to look at Loki.

The man however stands fully and marches away with a scowl. "No." he growls. "I have never had a choice." He turns around and looks at Tony now and that frown melts of his face in an instant and is replaced with nothing but sorrow.

"Why can't you see that, I never have a choice." He moves closer and Tony would move back but he is against the back of the bed and it hurts to move. His hand reaches out and grips Tony's chin, and he pauses. "I will never have a choice with anything, with family, my duties or you."

And Tony feels that pit disappear, and maybe just maybe he isn't happy about dying.


End file.
